The Chronology of Jesus’ Life A Detailed and Dated Timeline of the Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ

ABSTRACT:. This chronology uses a framework of eight signs in the heavens to help date the

birth, ministry, death and Resurrection of Jesus. The Passover/Exodus event forms a typology for

Jesus’ life.1 It continues onto precisely sequence and date the events of Jesus’ life. Understanding

the phrase in the second-first Sabbath (Luke 6:1 Douay), revealed that Jesus’ public ministry was

two years in duration. It also revealed that Jesus did many Passover related actions and

teachings, at times and places other than at Passover in Jerusalem. Instead, He did them around

Passover in the second month and around the solar Passover. Much as Dr. Jaubert proposed the

solar Passover as the date for the Last Supper. The gospel of Matthew was determined to be in

sequential chronological order. These insights helped link the vast majority of Jesus’ ministry to

the few weeks of these events. It was further revealed that there were a few similar events that

occurred a month before Passover in the month of Adar. The order and character of the events

strengthens and even forces the dates of Jesus’ actions and teaching. The Exodus and first

Passover form the plot for Jesus’ life. Chronicling Jesus’ entire ministry accurately, gives a

clearer picture and more insight into Jesus and God’s plan, work and ways. This Passover order

and structure can aid one to remember the details and order of the events of Jesus’ ministry.

Copyright 2012 Bruce Alan Killian updated 27 Mar 2013 A.D. email bakillian at earthlink.net

To index file: www.scripturescholar.com/ChronologyJesus.pdf

Link to Table of Contents page 92

Throughout this document, Julian dates are used because the Julian calendar was the

official Roman calendar at the time. To convert to Gregorian calendar dates, subtract two days

from the day of the month, e.g. Monday 8 January A.D. 31 Julian becomes Monday 6 January

A.D. 31 Gregorian. Jewish dates following the official lunar-solar calendar are given in curly

brackets {day-month}. Some points dating Jesus’ life particularly from astronomical phenomena

were done in earlier documents. Those articles particularly the “Star of Bethlehem” and “The

Ladder to Heaven—The Lamb of God,” should be reviewed. This document refers the reader to

those and other earlier articles where certain important chronological dates were discussed such

as the Star of Bethlehem or the dating of the Levitical priestly courses. This document is an

expanded and major revision of the authors article “Jesus’ Two Year Ministry” originally done in

2000. This document is not exhaustive, some gospel details are omitted to limit article length, but

enough details are presented to provide a framework for most of the remaining events.

Generating a Chronology of Jesus’ Life

Astronomical Chronological Framework of Jesus’ Life Points to Passover

There were two pictures in the heavens that framed Jesus’ birth. The first was the sign

that brought the magi to Jerusalem. That picture was the Lion of the tribe of Judah receiving the

scepter of world rule marked by the rising of His star. His star connected that sign to a second

picture they saw in Bethlehem, a slain male lamb (Matthew 2:1-13). His star connected those

1 This article is the fruit of a diligent and careful search of the Scriptures to discover the times

and circumstances of the Christ (1 Peter 1:10-11).

2

signs to a third picture in the heavens seen by Jesus and His first disciples at the start of His

ministry. That picture was the cross—depicted as the ladder from earth to heaven (Sunday 4

March A.D. 31). Jesus alluded to this when He told His disciples they would see angels

ascending and descending on the Son of Man (John 1:51). That linked to angels ascending and

descending Jacob’s ladder on the house of God (Genesis 28:12).

At Jesus’ death, the sun was darkened for three hours and the moon was blood red as it

rose that evening (Acts 2:20). At Jesus’ Resurrection, His star connected to another sign a picture

of two fish. If one includes the timing of the priestly course of Zechariah and the Roman census

record of Jesus’ birth and a few additional passages of Scripture, then one can conclude, Jesus

was conceived at midnight on Passover 1 B.C. (Wisdom 18:13-15). Fled to Egypt on Passover

A.D. 1 and died on Passover A.D. 33, He lived 33 years from conception until death. He had

recently turned thirty when He was baptized in A.D. 31. Jesus’ public ministry started a few

months later on Passover and He had two years to complete His ministry. The Passover story

events form the plot2 for the stories in Jesus’ ministry. Jesus was the reason for the Passover,

Jesus fulfilled the Passover (Matthew 5:17; 1 Corinthians 5:7). The Passover was structured to

form the framework for Jesus’ life and ministry. The Passover story is the type and Jesus’ life

and ministry is the antitype.

Passover Events an Additional Chronological Factor

Practically every event of Jesus’ life and ministry recorded in the gospels was tied to the

Passover (Pesach). Passover events include: the annunciation, visitation, birth, shepherds,

presentation, magi, flight to Egypt, slaying boys, baptism, announcement by John the Baptist,

wedding at Cana, all Passover visits to Jerusalem, His disciples baptism ministry, the woman at

the well, all Capernaum ministries: the call of the apostles, catching two boatloads of fish,

driving out unclean spirits, the Sermon on the Mount, cleansing of the leper, night and early

morning prayer, forgiving sins of paralytic, raising Jairus’ daughter, calming the sea, driving out

demons; destroying swine, opposition of Pharisees, death of John the Baptist, each healing of the

multitudes, the blind see, raising of the son of the widow of Nain, the feeding of the five

thousand, prayer on the mountain, walking on the stormy sea, the Bread of Life sermon and the

rejection of its message, feeding of the four thousand, “You are the Christ,” Transfiguration,

ministry in Perea, raising of Lazarus, cleansing Temple (twice), anointing at Bethany, triumphal

entry, teaching in Temple, questions, Last Supper, agony in the garden, betrayal, various trials

and beatings, scourging, crucifixion, burial, resurrection, ascension, etc. All of these links will be

explained. The full picture requires all four gospels to paint.

The genesis of this Passover linkage came with the recognition that key events in Jesus’

life were unexpectedly directly tied to the “time” of a Passover and to the “events” that occurred

at the Exodus and first Passover. The Star of Bethlehem led the magi to arrive at the home of the

Holy Family early in the evening of the Passover 27 March A.D. 1.3 The Scripture further

2 A plot is the literary term defined as the events that make up a story particularly as they relate

to one another in a pattern, in a sequence, through cause and effect, etc. Wikipedia Plot

(Narrative) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plot_(narrative) 3 Bruce Killian, “A Bible Detective Looks at The Star of Bethlehem,” 2010,

www.scripturescholar.com/StarOfBethlehem.pdf and “Venus The Star of Bethlehem,” 2008,

www.scripturescholar.com/VenusStarofBethlehem.pdf. Briefly, Jesus identified His star as the

Bright Morning Star, a description that only fits Venus. The magi saw His star when it rose

with the sun, a heliacal rising. There was a helical rising of Venus on 24 August 2 B.C. and the

3

reveals that Jesus was conceived at midnight on Passover,4 7 April 1 B.C.

5 Jesus’ public ministry

began (John 2:13) and ended in Jerusalem on Passover. Annie Jaubert demonstrated that Jesus

celebrated the Last Supper on the solar Passover three days before the official lunar-solar

Passover.6 While most do not recognize sufficient evidence of Jesus celebrating the solar

Passover in the gospels, this article should enlighten. When combined with Jesus’ Capernaum

ministry starting just before Passover in the second month, as revealed when the picking and

eating of grain on the ‘second-first Sabbath’ is properly understood. The second-first Sabbath

was the first Sabbath following Passover in the second month so it occurred just after the middle

of the second month. Therefore, Jesus’ ministry in Capernaum started just before the Passover in

the second month and continued until the end of the week of unleavened bread following that

Passover.7 This will be demonstrated shortly. Jesus’ fulfilled the Passover in a far more profound

way than just, ‘He was the Lamb of God’ and died when the Passover lambs were slain. His life

and ministry indicate the purpose of many of the elements of the Passover story. Usually at each

Passover event in His life, Jesus cleansed leaven from His house, questions were asked, He kept

a watch in the night, He commenced a journey over water, and many other Passover linked

events occurred.

What Day was Passover?

The Passover lamb or kid (called the Passover) was to be slain between the evenings of

the fourteenth day of the first month and eaten that evening after sunset, which coincided with

the start of the fifteenth day of the month. In the Bible, a day has two evening one at noon and

the second at sunset (Exodus 12:6; 16:12 in Hebrew). This means the Passover was slain about

3PM and eaten later that night. Passover can refer to the fifteenth day of the month and it can

refer to the whole period from the eve of Passover to the end of the feast of unleavened bread. To

be more precise Nisan 14 was the eve of Passover and Nisan 15 was the day of Passover. The

eve of Passover was the day leaven was cleansed from one’s house. The day started at sunset. If

the solar Passover was kept the eve was always a Tuesday, and the Passover was Wednesday, but

started on Tuesday at sunset. In the solar calendar, each day of the year always fell on the same

day of the week.

God commanded that each Israelite family tell the story of the events of Passover each

year. At Passover there was a meal known as the Seder, an ordered meal, at which the story was

told. This regular retelling of the Passover meant that Israel knew well the details of the

Passover. Jesus fulfilled the details of the Passover. The Passover story was the framework or

plot of the pattern of events in Jesus’ life. A purpose of the Passover was to create the pattern

into which Jesus’ life would fit. But what are some of the details of the Passover? A male lamb

or kid, less than one year old was chosen as a sacrifice for one’s house. All leaven was cleansed

from the house. Blood of the Passover was put on one’s doorposts and lintel and the Passover

next was on Passover 27 March A.D. 1. Venus is the day star because it is the only star that

can be seen during the day. The magi watched Venus throughout that day and then in the later

afternoon followed it; they arrived at Jesus’ home in the evening and found Jesus with His

mother as the Passover Seder meals were commencing in Jerusalem. 4 Wisdom 18:13-15 in the context of Passover, …When the night was half spent the word leaped

from heaven to earth, … 5 Bruce Killian, “Venus The Star of Bethlehem,” 2008, www.scripturescholar.com/VenusStarofBethlehem.pdf.

6 Annie Jaubert, The Date of the Last Supper (Staten Island, Alba House, 1965) 95-101.

7 Bruce Killian, “Jesus’ Two Year Ministry,” 2007, www.scripturescholar.com/Jesus2YearMinistry.pdf.

4

was roasted whole over a fire. One celebrated the Passover by eating the lamb, with unleavened

bread and bitter herbs. One ate the Seder dressed, shod, and prepared to leave on a journey.

Questions were always asked and always the Passover story was retold. Israel bowed and

worshipped God. Before the original Passover, Moses asked Pharaoh to allow Israel to go for a

three-day journey to offer sacrifice. The sacrifice might be abhorrent to the Egyptians. Each

Israelite asked for and received items of wealth from the Egyptians. The Israelites burned up any

Passover lamb remains in the morning. Every Israelite was healthy and able to travel. During the

watch, Israel left Passover night on a journey. One had to keep a vigil or watch on Passover

night. The Israelites ate unleavened bread for seven days. God led Israel out and saved them with

an out-stretched arm. During those seven days, Israel crossed out of Egypt, crossed the Red Sea

on dry ground, the Egyptian army was destroyed and God tested Israel by having them thirst for

three days before they encountered the bitter waters of Marah. God made that water sweet with a

tree. The plagues do not seem to be part of the details that Jesus fulfilled.8 Many additional

details flesh out the plot that will be highlighted where appropriate. The Bible sometimes uses

words with multiple meaning to say more with fewer words. This can often hide details in the

stories that God wants His saints to “search out”.

The official Jewish way of calculating when to celebrate Passover used the sun, moon

and the day of the week. The official Passover in any particular year could vary by one day

depending on the day of the week on which the third day of the first month landed. The first day

of the month could be postponed according to the rule of Adu. That is the first full moon after the

vernal equinox, but the month began at the new moon before the equinox. They postponed the

first day of Nisan if the first day was a Sunday, Wednesday or Friday. This was to avoid the

inconvenience of having two Sabbath days in a row. “Now the 14th day of Nisan always fell on

the full moon next after the vernal Equinox; and the month began at the new moon before, not at

the true conjunction, but at the first appearance of the new moon; for the Jews referred all the

time of the silent moon, as they phrased it, that is, of the moon's disappearing, to the old moon;

and because the first appearance might usually be about 18 h after the true conjunction, they

therefore began their month from the sixth hour at evening, that is, at sun set, next after the

eighteenth hour from the conjunction. And this rule they called Jah, designing by the letters and

the number 18.” 9

How did Jesus fulfill the details of the Passover?

Remove Leaven From House: This can best be shown by a series of examples. On the

eve of Passover, the Israelites were “to cleanse (that is remove) all the leaven from their houses.”

Now in this phrase the Scriptures use two words with multiple meanings, leaven and house. The

word house can refer to the place one lives, the family from which one was descended, and it can

refer to the Temple as God’s House. Leaven can refer to yeast (chametz) or bread that had risen.

Leaven can also refers to sin (1 Corinthians 5:8), uncleanness which is sin, teaching that leads to

sin (Matthew 16:12) and hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).

Jesus did not have a house per se, “The son of man has no place to lay his head”

(Matthew 8:20), so before Passover when He cleansed His house; He cleansed His family Israel,

from the uncleanness of sin. This was to be done before Passover, but if while traveling, Jesus

encountered leaven during the week of unleavened bread, He cleansed it directly. His Father’s

8 So more of the story is yet to come.

9 John Pratt, “Newton's Date For The Crucifixion,” 1991,

www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/newton.html

5

House was the Temple so when He was in Jerusalem before Passover, He cleansed His father’s

House of leaven by driving out the moneychangers, merchants, etc. Cleansing from sin can take

a number of forms—it could be cleansing a leper or casting out an ‘unclean’ spirit, etc. because

leprosy is uncleanness and uncleanness is sin. It can take the form of raising the dead, because a

dead body is unclean. It can also take the form of baptism, forgiving sin, revealing hypocrisy, or

correcting errors that are or lead to sin. For example, “Is it right to divorce your wife for any

reason?” Jesus gave the reason it was wrong, it was the sin of breaking a covenant. In extreme

cases, the unleavened portion can be left behind by moving away e.g. Israel left Egypt at the

Exodus. Early in Jesus’ life rather than cleansing the leaven from His house, He and His house

(Jesus, Mary and Joseph) left Israel when the Holy Family fled to Egypt. If we find Jesus

cleansing leaven from His house, a Passover was neigh. The only time Jesus publically answered

questions, or taught without using parables was at those times, because clarity was necessary

when cleaning out sin.

Many types (or shadows) of Jesus and His sacrifice from the Old Testament also have

strong Passover linkages: the lamb, blood on doorposts, leaven removal, eating unleavened

bread, bitter herbs, vigil, journey, asking for gold, everyone able to travel, etc.10

At the Passover (and in fact for all Temple sacrifices) unleavened (bread, flour or grain)

was to be used and nothing containing leaven or yeast could be used. Two sacrifices one for the

Pentecost (Leviticus 23:17) and the other for the Todah (Leviticus 7:12-13) were the exceptions,

but that bread did not go into the Temple. The New Testament explained that leaven represented

sin in its various forms. Paul and Jesus link leaven to sin:

1 Corinthians 5:6-9 Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast [that is

leaven] works through the whole batch of dough? 7Get rid of the old yeast that you may

be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been

sacrificed. 8Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice

and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

Matthew 16:5-12 When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 6"Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees

and Sadducees." 7They discussed this among themselves and said, "It is because we didn't

bring any bread." 8Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, "You of little faith, why are

you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9Do you still not understand? Don't

you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you

gathered? 10

Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you

gathered? 11

How is it you don't understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But

be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." 12

Then they

understood that He was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but

against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Choose a Passover Lamb: Before Passover, each household was to choose a lamb. God

the Father chose Jesus as the Lamb for His house. The Father revealed His choice through the

magi when they revealed the star indicating His coming. Peter identified Jesus as the Christ,

because the Christ was to be God’s Lamb. When the two blind men in Jericho called Jesus the

Son of David, He was identified as the Christ, the one to be sacrificed and the Christ was the one

who would give sight to the blind. At the triumphal entry, Jesus was selected by the people as the

Son of David and so the sacrificial Lamb.

10

Bruce Killian, “Jesus Our Passover,” 2010, www.scripturescholar.com/JesusOurPassover.pdf

6

Sacred Assembly: At Passover there was to be a sacred assembly on the first day.

During Jesus’ ministry, He regularly convoked sacred assemblies, but careful observation leads

to the conclusion that these assemblies (often called the crowds) occurred on the eve of Passover,

that was on the day the Passover was to be slain and may have continued into the Passover.

Eat the Passover Feast: After sunset when Passover started, Israel was to celebrate the

feast by eating the Passover lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs (Exodus 12:8) and to

tell the story of what God had done for them. When Jesus fed the five thousand, He kept this

feast, the same with feeding the four thousand and the Last Supper. It seems that Jesus only

served a meal when He celebrated this feast on a solar Passover. The Lamb was missing at these

feasts except the Last Supper unless one recognized that Jesus was the Lamb.

Keep Watch or Vigil: On the night of Passover after the feast, each Israelite was to keep

vigil or watch (Exodus 12:42). Jesus kept watch while He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane

after the Last Supper. Jesus kept a Passover vigil on every recorded night He prayed (except the

Transfiguration). But Jesus kept many vigils and most not in Jerusalem, how can they all be on

Passover night? The short answer is Jesus kept not only the official (lunar-solar) Passover in the

first month; He also kept the alternate Passover in the second month (Pesach Sheni). Further

Jesus kept not only the Passover according to the official lunar-solar calendar of the Chief Priests

(the Sadducees); He also kept the Passover according to the solar calendar. This means that there

were usually four Passovers per year. When one observes that Jesus kept a vigil, one finds that

He had just celebrated a Passover. Jesus sometimes expanded those weeklong Passover feasts to

include the following week as a second week of Passover e.g. Hezekiah’s Passover (2 Chronicles

30:23). This will be noted when it occurs later in this article.

Bow and Worship: At the Exodus, when the angel passed over, Israel bowed and

worshiped God (Exodus 12:27). At these events, beings bowed and worshipped Jesus, we find

the magi worshipped Jesus, and demoniacs fell on their knees before Jesus. We also find the

disciples did obeisance to Jesus, the Syrophoenician woman knelt before Jesus, etc.

Immediate Journey: At Passover Israel was to be ready to leave on a journey (Exodus

12:11). In every Passover event where travel was allowed (not prohibited by law), e.g. not on a

Sabbath or in Jerusalem on Passover Jesus and company left on an immediate journey. Examples

include Mary, who left in haste when told of Elizabeth, the Holy Family fled to Egypt. Often the

travel announcement was as simple as Jesus said, Let us go somewhere else; Jesus said, “Let us

cross over to the other side” (Gadara); they got in the boat and went to Magadan; they went on

from there; etc. Sometimes, Jesus walked on the stormy sea or calmed a stormy sea.

Death and Burial: While journeying during the Passover, all Israel was baptized in the

Red Sea (1 Corinthians 10:1-2). Baptism represents death and burial (Romans 6:4; Colossians

2:12). Jesus was in water in Mary’s womb at conception. Jesus at birth was wrapped like a

corpse and laid in a tomblike cave. Jesus was under the threat of death when His family fled

from King Herod. The wine from the wedding in Cana was made in stone jars that were used for

sprinkling (baptizing) to cleanse from the uncleanness of death. Jesus’ disciples baptized the

Galilean Jews when they returned from Passover in Jerusalem. While crossing the Sea of Galilee,

waves washed the boat baptizing the disciples while Jesus slept both symbols of death. At the

Transfiguration, they were baptized by the cloud. Jesus was imprisoned underground after He

was transferred to Roman control, so He was both buried in jail after His arrest and buried in a

tomb after His death. When the paralytic was lowered through the roof before Jesus and He said,

“Your sins are forgiven,” that was symbolic of baptism. The four thousand forded the Jordan

River following Jesus to the wilderness of the Decapolis where they were fed. Jesus was buried

7

when He was placed in the tomb. All the death experiences except John the Baptist's death were

Todah experiences, that is life after death.11

The breaking, wrapping and hiding of the Afikomen

during the Seder is also a death and burial event.12

Outstretched Arm: When God redeemed Israel from slavery at the Exodus He did so

with an outstretched hand or arm with the meaning of a mighty arm or a display of miraculous

power. Mary sang of God’s mighty arm in the Magnificat. Jesus displayed His power when He

rebuked the wind and the waves. Jesus displayed His mighty arm, when He reached to rescue

Peter from drowning and when He used His hands to heal the blind or touch to cleanse the leper.

His power was displayed, when His hand broke bread for five thousand men or four thousand.

Also, when He raised the Eucharist at the last Supper and when He redeemed mankind with

outstretched arms on the cross. Peter displayed a strong arm when he pulled in 153 fish by

himself.

Ask Questions: on the night of Passover, a child was to ask questions For example: What

was the meaning of this event? In every Exodus event there was a question or a series of

questions asked. “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I do not know man?” (Luke

1:34) “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” (Matthew 2:2) “Didn’t you know

I must be about my father’s business?” (Luke 2:49) “Where are you staying?” (John 1:38) “Dear

woman, what is this between you and me?” (John 2:4) Do you not say, ‘Four months more and

then the harvest’? (John 4:35) He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” (Matthew

8:26) And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out?

(Matthew 12:27) She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” “The head of John

the Baptist,” (Mark 6:24) How many loaves do you have? (Mark 6:38) “Who do you say I am?”

(Matthew 16:15) “Where have you laid him?” (John 11:34) “Could you men not keep watch with

me for one hour?” (Matthew 26:40) “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” (Matthew

20:22) “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) Haven’t you any

fish?” (John 21:5) "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6)

Unexpected Wealth: At the Exodus Passover the Israelites at God’s command, asked the

Egyptians for items of value and they received them (Exodus 12:35-36). During Jesus’ ministry

at these Passovers, God gave a sudden influx of unexpected wealth. For example gold, incense,

myrrh; or one hundred and fifty gallons of fine wine; or the keys to the kingdom of heaven; or

two boat loads of fish; or one-hundred and fifty-three large fish; or up to half my kingdom, or

bread and fish in the wilderness for five thousand men or for four thousand men; or at the last

supper the Eucharist, or at the cross redemption of the whole world. Even at twelve Jesus gave

wealth when He shared His wisdom because wisdom is more valuable than rubies (Proverbs

8:11).

Bitter Herbs: How do bitter herbs relate to Jesus ministry?—At the Passover Israel was

commanded to eat bitter herbs. In the Exodus account, God gave an example; they went three

days without water then came to the ‘bitter’ water of Marah. So eating bitter herbs can mean

experiencing a bitter event. So at each Passover event there was a bitter experience. Some bitter

11

A todah sacrifice would be offered by someone whose life had been delivered from great peril,

such as disease or the sword. The redeemed person would show his gratitude to God by

gathering his closest friends and family for a todah sacrificial meal.

Tim Gray, “From Jewish Passover to Christian Eucharist: The Story of the Todah,” 2002,

www.catholiceducation.org/articles/apologetics/ap0124.html. 12

Bruce Killian, “Messianic Passover Haggadah,” 2004, www.scripturescholar.com/Haggadah.pdf

8

experiences were being pregnant three months before living with Joseph and the death of the

boys of Bethlehem with weeping and wailing. Jesus' parents anxious, while He a boy was

missing. A wedding with no wine (it was probably vinegar). The arrest of John the Baptist. All

were about to drown in the storm. The crowd mocked Jesus. They heard the news of John the

Baptist’s death. They were annoyed by a loud persistently pestering Canaanite woman. Jesus

said, “He must suffer.” Get behind me Satan; Son of Man was to be betrayed; Judas betrayed

Jesus. Jesus tasted wine mixed with gall. Jesus died. Peter was grieved.

Everyone Healthy and Able to Travel: At the Exodus, about two million people walked

out of Egypt, everyone was healthy, and there was no feeble one among them (Psalm 105:37). It

was only during a Passover event, that Jesus healed everyone. When one reads the gospels it is

easy to get the impression that Jesus usually healed everyone. Examples of this health, the Holy

Family able to flee; disciples always able to travel; Jesus healed all the sick (Matthew 8:16);

Jesus healed all their sick (Matthew 14:14, 36); Great crowd and Jesus healed their sick

(Matthew 15:30). He healed the boy His disciples could not heal (Matthew 17:18). There were

large crowds and Jesus healed them there (Matthew 19:2). Blind and lame came to Him and were

healed (Matthew 21:14).

Physical Deprivation: At the Exodus, Israel went three days without water. Jesus’

disciples were hungry enough to pick and eat grain on the Sabbath. They repeatedly went

without food on those occasions. Jesus also said, His disciples must pick up and carry their cross.

Jesus at the feeding of the four thousand was concerned that they would faint during their return

because of a lack of food. So commonly, during the Passover events, one finds that Jesus and His

disciples go through a period of physical deprivation, and Jesus suffered more than His disciples

did.

Unfulfilled Details: Scripture does not record that Jesus fulfilled ‘every’ detail at every

Passover, some details are fulfilled only once or a few times. For example, the acceptance of

Jesus as the sacrifice, by a priest laying hands on His head, when presented at the gate of the

Temple. This happened only twice at the presentation in the Temple and at His conviction for

blasphemy in the Sanhedrin chambers. When was the Blood of the Lamb placed on the doorposts

and lintel of Jesus’ house? The remains of the Lamb were burned-up. The sprinkling of the blood

of the Lamb around the sides of the altar each occurred only once. These details will be covered

in the chronological sections where Jesus met and fulfilled these requirements.

Old/New Testament Events: It is worth noting that certain connections to the Passover

events and timing of those, were not limited to Jesus’ ministry. Similar “coincidences” occur in

the life of Noah, Abraham, Lot, Isaac, Jacob/Israel, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Ruth, Saul, David,

Absalom, Elisha, Peter, etc.13

A chart was made showing how these plot lines in the gospels

almost invariably show up at each Passover event.14

The Passover events were much more

prevalent and complete in the life of Jesus. The Passover events in the Old Testament paint the

picture and reveal insights about Jesus’ Passover ministry. For instance, Isaac, the only beloved

son, carried the wood of his own sacrifice up the hill of Moriah and he came back again. The Old

Testament Events are the type and Jesus is the antitype.

13

Bruce Killian, “Chart of Exodus Events,” 2011, www.scripturescholar.com/PassoverEvents.pdf. 14

Bruce Killian, “Chart of Passover Events in Jesus’ Life,” 2011,

www.scripturescholar.com/GospelPassoverEvents.pdf.

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Discussion of the Length of Jesus’ Ministry

Since the early days of the Church, there have been discussions and investigations trying

to determine the length of Jesus’ ministry. The proposed lengths have varied from one to ten or

more years. In our day, it is common to believe Jesus’ ministry was three years and two to six

months in length. This article proposes and attempts to prove Jesus’ public ministry was exactly

two years in length, but preceded by a month and followed by an additional six weeks or so

where He ministered privately to a small group of disciples.

The Second-First Sabbath

The discovery that Jesus’ public ministry was limited to two-years started with an insight

into the word second-first. On a second-first (deuteroproto) Sabbath while Jesus was passing

through grain fields, His disciples began to pick heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat

the kernels (Luke 6:1). Interpreters do not understand the meaning of the second-first

() Sabbath. Modern translations have dropped second-first because they have not

understood it.15

It does not mean the second Sabbath after the first (KJV); otherwise, it would say

simply the second Sabbath. In the Bible, Sabbaths were only numbered from the Sabbath

following Passover until Pentecost (Leviticus 23:15-21). In that passage it was required that the

seven full weeks be counted, starting with the day after the Sabbath following Passover.16

This

second-first refers to the first Sabbath following a Passover celebrated in the second month. This

was a second Passover. If one counted Sabbaths following the second Passover, referring to the

following Sabbath as the second first would be natural. That was an abbreviation for the second

Passover first Sabbath. A second Passover was celebrated by those who were unclean or

traveling when Passover was celebrated in the first month (Numbers 9:10-11, 2 Chronicles 30:2,

15). The first Sabbath following the second Passover was the second-first Sabbath. The day after

the Sabbath following Passover was referred to as ‘First Fruits’ and was the day counting the

Omer commenced. The Omer ritual, waving a sheaf of the first of the barley harvest before the

altar, was required before eating any of the new the grain harvest. Pentecost occurs on the day

following the seventh Sabbath following the Omer. In this verse there is a second season related

factor, ‘picking and eating’ grain by the disciples. Eating new grain was not legal until after the

Omer and picking grain was indicative of the spring grain harvests from just after Passover until

15

NIV, NASB, NAB, and JB omit it; the RSV and NRSV put it in a footnote. Only the NKJV

retains it. It was dropped because The Greek New Testament, (London, United Bible Societies,

1966) 224, puts deuteroproto in the apparatus. This selection is rated ‘C’ meaning, “there is

considerable degree of doubt whether the text or the apparatus contains the superior reading (p.

xi).” Deuteroproto has strong support in the Western, Byzantine and Caesarean manuscript

families (p. 224). In Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament,

(London, United Bible Societies, 1971) 139, deuteroproto “is certainly the more difficult

reading, it should not for that reason be adopted.” This will be further discussed later in this

article. 16

There is a controversy as to what day the count should start. The Pharisees counted the

Passover as a Sabbath so the count always started the next day while the Sadducees had the

correct view where the Sabbath was the weekly Sabbath following or occurring on Passover.

10

the harvest was complete a month or so after Pentecost.17

Luke 6:1 is a key verse for

understanding the length of Jesus’ public ministry.18

The Standard View of and Problems with the Length of Jesus Ministry The consensus of scholars is that the most viable option for the length of Jesus’ public

ministry was three years and a few months.19

The synoptic gospels only require Jesus’ public

ministry to be about one year long, but they imply a two-year ministry.20

John’s gospel gives a

framework for a longer ministry. He directly mentioned three Passovers (2:13, 6:4, and 13:1);

but most believe additional details including an unnamed feast of the Jews (John 5:1) indicates

an additional Passover. The three stated Passovers of John’s gospel make two years the

minimum duration of Jesus’ public ministry. Between the first two of these Passovers, an

additional Passover was inserted to bring the total length of His ministry to three years. Besides

the internal evidence for the duration of Jesus’ ministry, there is the necessity of fitting that

ministry into the historical setting. If Jesus was born in 5 B.C. or early 4 B.C., started His public

ministry when He was thirty and died in A.D. 30 or better was born in early 1 B.C. and died in

A.D. 33, then stretching His ministry to three years to fit that period may be justified.

Jesus’ public ministry did not start at His baptism, and there is nothing in the gospels that

require more than three months from Jesus’ baptism until His first Passover. Jesus’ public

ministry began at Passover. For one month before that Passover, six disciples of John the Baptist

accompanied Jesus for a time.

The principle argument for adding a fourth Passover to Jesus’ ministry follows this line

of reasoning. After His first Passover (John 2:13) and before His third Passover (John 6:4), Jesus

said, “yet four months and then the harvest” (John 4:35). This statement was said to occur in

January/February shortly before Passover because the harvest was April/May. This statement is

followed by ‘a feast of the Jews was at hand’ (John 5:1).21

This feast is either assumed to be a

Passover or one of the feasts later in the year, whichever feast is chosen another year had passed.

The argument is extended with Luke 6:1 (Matthew 12:1; Mark 2:23) which occurred

earlier than the feeding of the five thousand mentioned in all four gospels and occurred when

Passover was near (John 6:4). Because it mentioned eating of the harvest, it must have occurred

during the previous harvest season. “On the other hand the Passover season of John 2:13 is too

early for the incident of the disciples plucking grain for John 2:13 occurred shortly after He had

been baptized and had started his ministry.”22

17

This must be at least the second Sabbath following Passover. 18

There is another possible interpretation of second-first. The first Sabbath following Passover

was counted as the first Sabbath. The next Sabbath would be the first Sabbath of the count of

Sabbaths to Pentecost. Since both of these Sabbaths were first Sabbaths, the second of these

could be referred to as a second-first Sabbath. This option was not chosen because it does not

fit the enumerated events. 19

Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, rev. ed. (Peabody, Mass. Hendrickson, 1998)

350. 20

Harold H. Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ (Grand Rapids, Zondervan,

1977) 60. 21

Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, 351; Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life

of Christ, 56-59; Robert L. Thomas and Stanley N. Gundry, A Harmony of the Gospels

(Chicago, Moody, 1978) 327. 22

Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, 56.

11

If Jesus’ public ministry were three years long, much of the first year of that ministry

would be in Judea and those who propose this often call the first year of His ministry, His Judean

ministry. There is a problem with this. Peter told us that Jesus’ ministry began in Galilee after the

baptism of John (Acts 10:37).

Those who have argued for a two-year ministry typically transpose John chapters 5 and 6.

This argument is weak because there is no textual evidence for this transposition.23

What does

transposing these chapters do for a two-year ministry; it eliminates a feast after January that must

be placed before Passover. If the event in Luke 6:1 occurred the previous spring and the yet four

months until the harvest statement occurred in the same spring there is no problem fitting in this

feast and there is no reason to transpose these chapters.

Yet Four Months until the Harvest

After Jesus talked to the woman at the well, Jesus talked to His disciples while the people

of Sychar came out of the city toward them. He said, “Do you not say, 'Four months more and

then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are white [ripe] for

harvest” (John 4:35).24

There are two ways that the preceding passage can be interpreted. When

Jesus referred to the harvest, was He referring to only men or was He referring to both men and

ripe fields? The first and standard way allows an additional Passover the second does not. There

are several items in that statement that can be interpreted more than one way. First, when Jesus

referred to the harvest as four months away it assumes He was referring to the wheat harvest.

This may not be so because in the same verse Jesus says, “look the grain is ripe for harvest.” The

Gezer calendar refers to two different periods as ‘the harvest.’ The first is in April/May the

second in August/September.25

If Jesus referred to the latter harvest, this would place that event

in the spring during the two months following Passover. Both the wheat harvest and the harvest

in August and September were referred to as the harvest. If Jesus’ statement referred to the

August/September harvest then there is no need to add a Passover. Jesus stated the fields were

ripe for harvest, if He was referring to the grain then this event happened around the grain

harvest and was in the two month period following Passover in the spring. Some argue that Jesus

was referring to a spiritual harvest and the harvest that He was looking at was the harvest of men.

Hendriksen says, Jesus was referring to the Samaritans (which was also true), but He was also

referring to the grain fields—double entendre. This would be true but it does not eliminate the

grain from being ripe as well. The Scripture commonly has multiple meanings tied together in

the same passage (particularly in the gospel of John). Hendriksen says, “In the mind of Jesus

there is a close relationship … between the physical and the spiritual harvest.”26

If there was ripe

grain at Sychar at that time, no additional Passover is required seeing that this story was being

told of the return to Galilee from a Passover in Jerusalem. This means the time of the spring

harvest is very reasonable. A final argument, the Samarians were not harvested by Jesus, they

were prepared for the harvest, the harvest was done by Deacon Philip (Acts 8:12).

The feast of Tabernacles in early October celebrated the end of the harvest. Four months

before a harvest starting in early August would be early April. God timed that appointment to

have the physical and spiritual harvests coincide.

23

Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, 46, 49-50. 24

It is almost as if Jesus tied the time of the harvest of men to the time of the harvest of grain. 25

The Gezer Calendar, www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/westsem/gezer.html. 26

William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary The Gospel of John, 2 vol. in 1, (Grand

Rapids, Baker, 1953) 175.

12

Another verse bears on the season in which this event occurred. Immediately following

Jesus’ visit to Sychar, “After the two days he left for Galilee. …When he arrived in Galilee, the

Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast,

for they also had been there” (John 4:43, 45 NIV). When Jesus came into Galilee, He was

welcomed because of what He had done at the Passover. Were the people remembering an event

ten months earlier or a week or two earlier? The natural understanding is they were remembering

a recent event not one nearly a year earlier. A short time would only be so if Jesus’ baptism

ministry were relatively brief. If Jesus and His disciples had spent six months at the Jordan River

baptizing, it would not refer to a yearly Passover feast as recently past.

The Unnamed Feast

The unnamed feast in John 5:1 is often proposed to be a Passover. John referred to the

feast of Passover ten times, why in one case did he refer to it as a feast of the Jews? The correct

view is that unnamed feast was the feast of Weeks or Pentecost. It fits naturally in the

chronology of Jesus’ ministry. The gospels never mention the feast of Pentecost. John did

mention both the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Dedication. During the unnamed ‘feast of

the Jews’ Jesus healed an invalid resting in the colonnades (John 5:2). An invalid seeking healing

would be unlikely to be resting in the colonnades during the winter, as it would be too cold.27

In

late May after Pentecost, it would be much more reasonable to wait there.

Now we come back to the deciding passage, Luke 6:1. In this passage, Jesus’ disciples

were criticized for harvesting grain on the Sabbath, not for eating it before the allowed day. This

means that that Sabbath occurred after the First Fruits offering and before the grain-harvest was

completed. If that event occurred during the spring, there is no reason for requiring that Jesus’

visit to Sychar to be any time other than the spring.

As long as Jesus' visit to Sychar did not occur during the winter, there is no need for the

unnamed feast to require an additional year. Since the event of the woman at the well occurred in

the spring, any of the feasts except Passover would not require additional time to pass. So a two-

year ministry is reasonable.

Another reason used to extend Jesus’ ministry is many believe that Jesus’ ministry was

exactly half of the seven-year period described in Daniel 9:26-27. The Bible does not state this.

Second, if Jesus’ ministry was three and a half years then the next three and a half years of the

seven years would immediately follow, there is no evidence that it did.

The Missing Year

A strong argument against the three-year view is Jesus’ first year of ministry is almost

completely missing in the synoptic gospels. Jesus’ disciples met and followed Him, but waited

nearly a year before recording the day-by-day, week-by-week events of His ministry. The most

memorable events would be during the period following the disciples’ first encounter with Jesus.

They would remember best the first observed miracles and unique teachings of that remarkable

man. In Mark, an early nine months of Jesus’ ministry disappears between verses 1:13 and 14, in

Matthew between 4:11 and 12, and in Luke between 4:13 and 14. In these gospels, Jesus was

baptized, led into the wilderness, returned after forty days, and then disappeared for about nine

months. The announcement in Nazareth of the Jubilee was the next event and is usually placed in

October (Luke 4:16-21). John filled in that period with a wedding feast at Cana, a Passover feast

in Jerusalem and a trip to the Jordan River to baptize. This last event is assumed to fill about six

27

New American Bible (Cleveland, Collins World, 1970) footnote in John 5.

13

months (John 3:22-4:3). If the undiscussed six months of Jesus’ ministry started with Passover—

the only event after Passover was baptizing at the Jordan, but there was no mention of what Jesus

taught or did during this period. If Jesus spent six months with His disciples baptizing at the

Jordan River, why does this period only fill one verse (John 3:22). Peter who was with Jesus at

that time, said Jesus’ ministry began in Galilee (Acts 10:37). John then tells us, Jesus went up to

Sychar and spent two days talking to the woman at the well and the people of Sychar. John spent

a chapter discussing the two-day visit to Sychar, but only one verse discussing the baptism

ministry. Could the baptism ministry have been short, because it only dealt with pilgrims passing

through on their return trip to Galilee from Passover in Jerusalem requiring no more than a few

days? Clearly, the answer is yes. The visit to Sychar was followed by “a feast of the Jews” (John

5:1), normally that feast is either taken to be the following Passover, or more often the Feast of

Tabernacles in October where Jesus healed a man invalid for thirty-eight years. The next passage

has Jesus in Galilee with Passover near (John 6:4), an entire year.

The visit to Sychar, gives evidence of a two-year ministry. Because the second-first

Sabbath occurred about a month after the first Passover of Jesus’ public ministry, there is no

reason to stretch the events of the early part of Jesus ministry. This places Jesus’ announcement

of ‘the year of the Lord’s favor’ three weeks earlier on a Sabbath and the first day of the second

month. This also allows enough time so the unnamed feast of the Jews fits in naturally with the

feast of Weeks (Pentecost or Shavuot), a feast never mentioned in the gospels. See the calendar

starting on page 79 for a day-by-day sequence of events.

The Historical Setting

Another assumption is that a three-year ministry better fits the correct historical period. A

purpose for making Jesus ministry longer is to make up a year to account for the belief Jesus was

born in 4 B.C. and was thirty year old when He began to minister and died in A.D. 30. The Bible

nowhere states the length of Jesus’ ministry. A strong argument can be made that the eclipse of 4

B.C. is far less likely than eclipse of 29 December 1 B.C. to be the eclipse that preceded the

death of King Herod the Great. Herod died after an eclipse of the moon and Jesus was born

before Herod died. The eclipse that occurred in 13 March 4 B.C. was a minor partial eclipse only

visible from two to four AM. Only a small number of people noticed that eclipse, and Josephus

would be unlikely to record it because he only recorded one eclipse, this one. There was a partial

eclipse in which more than half the moon was obscured visible for two hours from the time the

moon rose about twenty minutes after sunset on 29 December 1 B.C. Since Herod died after a

lunar eclipse, which occurred a month or more before the Passover, that eclipse more closely fits

the data regarding the time of the birth of Jesus.28

That eclipse started at the horizon and when

the moon is at the horizon, its color is red shifted due to extinction making it appear as a far more

dramatic event.

The length of Jesus’ public ministry appears to be two years, rather than the standard

figure of three years, for the following reasons. Kenneth Doig shows that a two-year ministry

28

John Pratt, “Yet Another Eclipse for Herod,” Reprinted from The Planetarian*, vol. 19, no. 4,

Dec. 1990, pp. 8-14. www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/herod/herod.html.

Bruce Killian, “Dionysius Exiguus, Got It Right, 2002,

www.scripturescholar.com/DionysiusExiguus.pdf demonstrates Jesus’ birth was on Christmas

1 B.C. Further confirmed by Bruce Killian, “Venus Star or Bethlehem,” (2003)

www.scripturescholar.com/VenusStarofBethlehem.pdf.

14

was supported from the earliest days of Christianity by the Church Fathers.29

The number of

Passovers celebrated during His ministry fixes the length of His ministry. Three Passovers

occurred during His ministry (John 2:13; 6:4; 13:1), not four as is commonly understood. The

gospels specifically state only three Passovers and John mentions them all. This would make the

public ministry of Jesus just two years in length. The Passovers mark the beginning, middle and

end of Jesus’ public ministry.30

The two years of Jesus’ ministry are a Sabbath year and Jubilee

year pair.31

A FRAMEWORK FOR THE CHRONOLOGY OF JESUS’ LIFE

Astronomical Signs (eight signs linked to Jesus)

Near His Birth: The Star of Bethlehem has long been sought to help identify the time of

Jesus’ birth and the start of His ministry. The assumed time of Jesus’ birth often limits the

search. The only explanation for the Star of Bethlehem that fits all the criteria32

was 24 August 2

B.C.; the magi that morning saw the Bright Morning Star rise with the sun. That happened

shortly before dawn marking a “scepter” formed by three other wandering stars in the

constellation of Leo (the Lion), fulfilling the prophesies given by Jacob in Genesis 49:9-1033

and

Balaam in Numbers 24:17. The sign started 20 August 2 B.C., with the picture of the lion with a

ruler’s staff between his legs. On the day His star rose the rulers staff shortened into a scepter.

The scepter shall not depart from Jacob, nor a lawgiver’s staff from between his feet, until he

comes to whom it belongs. The Lion of the tribe of Judah had received His scepter and that

scepter had ascended out of Jacob. The Lion of the tribe of Judah with His scepter is one of the

great messianic prophesies. The magi continued to watch that star rise throughout the day and in

the late afternoon set in the west in the direction of Jerusalem. The magi came 1.6 years later just

before Passover A.D. 1 to worship the newborn King of the Jews who would rule the whole

world. 34

The magi came to Jerusalem to Herod’s palace, because they assumed the newborn

29

Kenneth Doig, Doig's Biblical Chronology, “The Two year Ministry of Jesus,” 1990,

www.doig.net/NTC14.htm. 30

Following this argument is most easily done with a harmony of the gospels or another work

that sequences the events of Jesus’ public ministry in all the gospels. All are in general

agreement on the time and sequence of events but tend to use the gospel of Luke for the order

of events. For a harmony of the gospels that uses Matthew for the order of events see Bruce

Killian, “Gospel Harmony Douay,” 2011,

www.scripturescholar.com/GospelHarmonyDouay.pdf 31

Bruce Killian, “The Chronological Framework of History”, 2007,

www.scripturescholar.com/JubileeTimetable.pdf For summary see Appendix A: Table of Jubilees page 79. 32

Bruce Killian, “Star of Bethlehem Notes,” 2007,

www.scripturescholar.com/StarOfBethlehemNotes.pdf. A long list of questions a proper

understanding of the Star of Bethlehem should be able to answer. 33

The Scepter shall not depart from Judah until he comes to whom it belongs. This is also the

passage were Judah is identified as the lion of the Tribe of Judah. So the sign in the heavens

was the lion of the tribe of Judah receiving the scepter of kingship.

Numbers 24:17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh: a star shall come forth out of

Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab, and break

down all the sons of Sheth. 34

Killian, “Venus The Star of Bethlehem,” www.scripturescholar.com/VenusStarofBethlehem.pdf.

15

King would be a new arrival in the king’s palace. The magi were directed by the Jewish elders to

Bethlehem the place the promised King would be born. So the magi went to Bethlehem. The

magi saw His star as it rose in Bethlehem pointing to a picture of the slain lamb. The Star of

Bethlehem linked the picture of the Lion of the tribe of Judah with the Lamb who was slain.

These two pictures are also joined in Revelation 5:5-6 when Jesus as the Lion and the Lamb is

revealed as being on the throne of heaven. The magi were able to watch and follow that star

throughout the day and after the sunset they followed that star up the hills to the west until it

disappeared over Jesus’ house and they arrived on Jesus’ doorstep in the early evening, just as

Passover started. That happened before King Herod the Great died. Josephus records that King

Herod died shortly after an eclipse of the moon. The only eclipse of the moon the people were

likely to see mentioned by Josephus was 29 December 1 B.C. just after sunset.35

That eclipse

was important because it shortly followed the winter solstice and it was on the horizon so the

moon was red. Jesus was born at midnight on the winter solstice the darkest time of the year.

This eclipse was the closest possible time a lunar eclipse could approach the winter solstice and

still not have moonlight at midnight on the solstice, it set shortly before midnight. We know the

eclipsed moon was visible because Josephus who lived in Israel recorded it as a sign seen by the

people. The red moon occurred during the eight-day period between when Jesus was born and

when He was named. Combining these there was the sign of the sun being darkened and the

moon red because Jesus was born at midnight on the solstice the darkest time for the light of the

sun and the moon turned to blood at the time of Jesus’ birth.36

A similar event a darkened sun

and a red moon happened at Jesus’ death as noted by Peter (Acts 2:20). Because Peter quotes

Joel regarding the sun being darkened and Joel called it a day of clouds and gloom, the winter

solstice was particularly dark the day Jesus was born, because midnight on a cloudy winter

solstice. To those living in darkness … a light had dawned (Isaiah 9:2)

At the Start of His Ministry: There was another significant sign in the heavens to signal

the start of Jesus’ ministry on 4 March A.D. 31. This sign linked the proclamation by John the

Baptist that Jesus was the Lamb of God with Jacob’s ladder. The sign announced Jesus as the

Lamb of God and the Ladder to heaven and the vertical beam of the cross was pictured as the

ladder. The slain Lamb in the sky on the cross and looking towards the cross. It is also the

straight highway proclaimed by John the Baptist (Mark 1:7) (Isaiah 40:3). The cross was the

ladder or way to heaven and Jesus as the sacrificial lamb, it is hard to imagine a sign in heaven

presenting Jesus’ gospel and His Passover purpose more clearly.37

At His Death and Resurrection: Finally, on the day Jesus was crucified and the sun was

darkened for three hours, and that evening there was a lunar eclipse/blood moon on Friday April

3, A.D. 33 the day Jesus died. St. Peter referred to this (and the three hours the sun was dark on

that day) in his speech on Pentecost. He said, “The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon

to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord” (Acts 2:20).38

The moon

35

John Pratt, “Yet Another Eclipse for Herod,” Planetarian, vol. 19, no. 4, Dec. 1990, pp. 8-14.

www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/herod/herod.html. 36

We would not know that the eclipsed moon was visible except that Josephus mentions it. 37

Bruce Killian, “The Ladder to Heaven—The Lamb of God,” 2006,

www.scripturescholar.com/LambofGod.pdf. 38

Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, rev. ed. (Peabody, Mass. Hendrickson, 1998)

364.

16

rose eclipsed at the horizon (so red) just after sundown.39

At the Resurrection two days later, the

Star of Bethlehem again rose and marked a picture of fish. The exact meaning of this is

unknown; it may refer to the Church because a fish was one of the earliest signs of the Church.

So four signs in the heavens marked His birth and four signs in the heavens marked His ministry,

death, and Resurrection. Every time in each of these signs when Venus, the Bright Morning Star

appeared it was accompanied by the other morning star Mercury.40

A Solar or Lunar Solar Calendar

The lunar-solar calendar is the standard and official religious calendar of the Jews today

as it was in Jesus’ day. A lunar-solar calendar has the moon control the length of the month and

the sun control the length of the year. The number of months per year is either twelve or thirteen.

A lunar-solar calendar was originally assumed when generating this chronology of Jesus’

ministry. As the study continued, problems with that assumption were found. The clearest

problem was there were two Passovers celebrated during the week Jesus was crucified. Jesus

celebrated the Passover at the Last Supper according to the synoptic writers and then died on the

eve of the Passover according to the apostle John. Frequently with a theological problem, the

proper solution is “both” where there are two or more seemingly contradictory pictures presented

e.g. virgin mother. God is a master at revealing conundrums that appear to be irreconcilable. A

careful study of Jesus’ ministry reveals that for all of the Passover feasts, Jesus followed both the

solar and the lunar-solar calendar. This has not been widely recognized, but Annie Jaubert41

did

propose this as the solution to the dating of the Last Supper. She discovered that several of the

Dead Sea Scrolls followed a solar calendar. In the solar calendar, the number of days in each

year was always divisible by seven and was normally 364. The year always started on

Wednesday and the major feasts days were all on Wednesday. This was based on several things,

but most notably the fourth day of creation. The year started on Wednesday (actually Tuesday

evening), because on the fourth day the greater and lesser lights42

and the stars were made

(Genesis 1:14-18). Before the sun and the moon existed, there cannot be days and years, as we

know them. Genesis does not have the moon control the length of the month.43

The Essenes

This darkness as a sign also depicts the sun as the groom going into the wedding chamber to

consummate his marriage and coming out of the chamber when that was accomplished (Psalm

19:4b-5). 39

The moon can only be eclipsed after sundown and before sunrise. 40

Only Venus and Mercury are morning stars. God said the morning stars also sang together (or

praised Me) at the foundation of the world (Job 38:7). 41

Annie Jaubert, The Date of the Last Supper (NY, Alba House, 1965) 97. 42

The Jewish sages believed the moon was created full. 43

The author believes the month was originally 30 days long and the year 360 days long. This

changed most likely at the time of the pole shift in the days of Hezekiah when the shadow of

the sun went back ten steps on the sundial of Ahaz (2 Kings 20:9-11; Isaiah 38:8). For a

discussion of pole shifts and their effect on chronology see Bruce Killian, “Joshua’s Long

Day: and Other Pole Shifts Recorded in the Bible,” 2007,

www.scripturescholar.com/JoshuasLongDay.pdf and Bruce Killian, “The Bible vs.

Archaeology, You Decide,” 2007 www.scripturescholar.com/BibleArchaeology.pdf. Also for

those who believe all the creation days are literal twenty-four hour days there is a problem,

God made the trees before the sun and He allowed Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit of trees

17

following what they strongly believed was the correct sacred calendar divided the year into four

seasons where each season was divided into three months, the first two months were thirty days

each and the third month was thirty-one days. Each season was divisible into an even number of

weeks. Sometimes these two calendars aligned, but usually they diverged. This shows up most

clearly, when Jesus celebrated Passover on Tuesday evening for the Last Supper by the solar

calendar and died on Friday the eve of Passover by the lunar solar calendar as specified by the

Chief Priests in the Temple. Jesus appeared to celebrate Passover by both calendars, but

celebrated the official Passover, by the official calendar. That way Jesus could both celebrate the

Passover Seder meal and be crucified on the eve of Passover. It was discovered years after this

chronology was originally done, but before the solar connection was made, that most of the days

that Jesus celebrated feasts occurred on Wednesdays.44

If one knows the date of one solar

Passover, the date of solar Passovers in nearby years is a matter of subtracting one day per

subsequent year or two days per leap year. The Passovers (solar and lunar solar) in the second

month follow Passover in the first month by thirty days.

The following table gives dates that may be calculate or from earlier papers

Timeline of Events (All dates Julian) (Official Jewish day of year)

August 20-23, 2 B.C. Wed Picture Scepter/Ruler’s staff forms in Leo

August 24, 2 B.C. Sun Venus marks picture of a scepter in Leo

November 2-9, 2 B.C. Sat Zechariah ministers in the Temple

April 7, 1 B.C. Wed Jesus conceived—Passover midnight Nisan 15

~August 26, 1 B.C. Fri John the Baptist born

December 25, 1 B.C. Sun Jesus born—Winter solstice Tevet 10

January 1, A.D. 1 Sun Jesus circumcised Tevet 17

February 2, A.D. 1 Thu Presentation in the Temple Shevat 20

March 23, A.D. 1 Thu Magi visit Herod in Jerusalem Nisan 10

March 27, A.D. 1 Mon Magi see the Star of Bethlehem Passover eve Nisan 14

April 15, A.D. 13 Sat Passover when Jesus was 12 years old Nisan 15

April 8, A.D. 30 Sat Passover Nisan 15

~August 26, A.D. 30 John the Baptist thirty years old

September 16-23, 30 Sat John ministered as a priest in the Temple Tishri 1-7

Sept 30-Oct 6, 30 Sat Tabernacles, John ministered as priest Tishri 15-21

January 8, A.D. 31 Mon Jesus’ baptism by John Tevet 23

March 3-10, A.D. 31 Sat John ministered as a priest in the Temple Adar 18-25

March 4, A.D. 31 Sun Picture—Cross—Ladder to Heaven—Lamb Adar 19

March 29, A.D.31 Thu Official Passover (lunar-solar) Nisan 15

April 4, A.D. 31 Wed Solar Passover Nisan 21

April 29, A.D. 31 Sun Passover in second month (deferred one day) Iyar 15

May 4, A.D. 31 Fri Solar Passover in second month Iyar 21

May 20, A.D. 31 Sun Pentecost

only three days old, but the Law disallows eating of trees until the fifth year (Leviticus 19:23-

25), so are the trees only three days old or are they over four years old? 44

Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, 43-9. Summarizes Annie Jaubert’s

arguments in a book still in print.

18

April 2, A.D. 32 Wed Solar Passover Nisan 3

April 13, A.D. 32 Sun Official Passover Nisan 15

May 2, A.D. 32 Fri Solar Passover second month Iyar 3

May 14, A.D. 32 Wed Passover in second month Iyar 15

October 9, A.D. 32 Thu Tabernacles Tishri 15

December 17, A.D. 32 Wed Dedication/Hanukah Kislev 25

April 1, A.D.33 Wed Solar Passover Nisan 11

April 4, A.D. 33 Sat Official Passover eclipsed Moon Nisan 15

April 5, A.D. 33 Sun First Fruits—Jesus’ Resurrection Nisan 16

May 1, A.D. 33 Fri Solar Passover second month Iyar 11

May 4, A.D. 33 Mon Passover in second month Nisan 15

May 24, A.D. 33 Sun Pentecost

A Look at the Chronological Passages Bearing on Jesus Ministry

1. Some believe the announcement of the acceptable year of the Lord, announced by Jesus

referred to the start of a Jubilee year, which must occur in the fall (Tishri 10, c. October 1).

Here it is proposed Jesus rather announced a Sabbath rest year immediately preceding a

Jubilee rest year. The Jubilee year was always preceded by six months by the start of the

seventh Sabbath year. The Sabbath year was the time slaves were to be released

(Deuteronomy 15:12-13). On a Sabbath Jesus said, “This day this is fulfilled in your hearing”

(Luke 4:21). Jesus announced a dual message, a time to celebrate the Sabbath-Jubilee year

pair and freedom from the slavery to sin. While the Jubilee was to be announced in the fall,

the Sabbath year started in the spring. The Sabbath year rest always preceded the jubilee rest

year and overlapped it by about six months. Jesus was calling attention to a calendar

problem. He made this announcement on the first day of the second month—but had the

calendar been set correctly it should have been the first month of the year. The reason that

there should have been an additional month inserted before Nisan was to prevent the feast of

Tabernacles from occurring too early. The feast of Tabernacles starts on the Tishri 15. In the

year A.D. 31, Tishri 15 occurred on September 22. That was three days before the Autumnal

Equinox marking the beginning of fall. The feast fell too early. This is especially important

because this Tishri was the time of the start of a Jubilee year. 45

2. Some believe the interpretation of the parable of the fig tree (Luke 13:6) requires a four-year

ministry for Jesus.46

This is an interpretation, it is not so stated in the Bible, but Jesus does

minister in parts of four years, the very end of one year, two full years and the very beginning

of the fourth. Fig trees show their fruit when they leaf in the spring, so at the beginning of the

45

Jesus also called attention to the end of the Jubilee at the feast of Tabernacles in A.D. 32,

because He referred to Himself as the door, a reference associated with the Jubilee. The

Sabbath year and Jubilee years overlapped by about six months, which allowed planting to

occur so that a harvest could be reaped at the beginning of the third year. The two years of

Jesus’ ministry aligned to the time that all agricultural work was to cease. Bruce Killian, “The

Chronological Framework of History”, 2002, www.scripturescholar.com/JubileeTimetable.pdf. 46

Johnston M. Cheney, The Life of Christ in Stereo (Oregon, Western Conservative Baptist

Seminary, 1969) 234-6.

19

fourth year the lack of fruit was evident. The ministry before the first Passover and after the

last Passover was private, not public. The Jews normally counted any part of a year as the

whole of the year. With this count, Jesus’ public ministry was three years, but His total

ministry was four years.

3. John the Baptist’s ministry was to be the forerunner. If his ministry continued for long after

the start of Jesus’ ministry, the people would be confused. Also, many people halfway

through Jesus’ ministry thought Jesus was John the Baptist returned from the dead, a position

they would not hold if Jesus and John ministered side-by-side for six months at the Jordan

River.

Assumptions Consistent with a Two Year Ministry

1. The Apostle’s memory for the sequence of events of Jesus' ministry would be the sharpest at

the beginning and end of their time with Jesus and for unusual events. The disciples would

for instance remember the first healing of a particular type better than the tenth healing.

2. Jesus' purpose was to establish His Church, therefore the sooner He announced the kingdom,

the sooner the apostles were chosen, and the more time Jesus could spend training them. The

sooner they were trained the sooner the Church could be established.

3. Events that sufficiently mirror a Passover signal a Passover event.

4. Matthew was the synoptic writer who recorded the sequence of events correctly. Mark and

Luke were not present at the events recorded and are not always in chronological order.

5. Jesus’ final Passover from the synoptic gospel author’s viewpoint was the solar Passover

(and the Last Supper). Jesus’ final Passover from the Apostle John’s viewpoint was the

official lunar solar Passover immediately following the crucifixion.

6. John was deliberate in giving the Passover day from the contrasting viewpoint.

Assumptions for Generating a Calendar of Jesus’ Ministry

1. Jesus and disciples kept the Old Covenant law, so they attended the three weeklong festivals

each year: Passover, Pentecost and Booths.47

Jesus and the disciples did not travel a

significant distance on the Sabbath.

2. Jesus and disciples could travel about twenty-five miles (40km) per day, and family caravans

move about twenty miles/day (32km).

3. The apostles’ memories for events would also be heightened by travel, especially foreign

travel.

4. John the Baptist and Jesus did not start ministering until each had turned thirty years of age.

5. The term Jesus ‘was about thirty years old’ means He was almost exactly thirty, but His

baptism did not occur “on” His birthday.

6. John was somewhere between his fourth and sixth month of ministry when Jesus now thirty

years old came to him to be baptized in January A.D. 31 (Luke 1:26, 36). John a priest

needed to be ordained when he turned thirty at the start of his ministry. And he had several

weeks of duty in the Temple shortly thereafter.

7. If there is nothing in the text separating events, the events are likely close in time. (The

standard rule used by most seems to be spread out events to fill the available time).

8. Passover was celebrated on two different calendars (lunar-solar and solar), and could be

celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first or the second month of the year.

47

Note, if one’s life was threatened, if one attended a feast then normally the higher law of self-

preservation would dictate that one not attend.

20

9. The gospel of John gives hours of the day from the Roman viewpoint where the hours were

counted from midnight and noon.

10. The synoptic gospels give hours of the day according to Jewish usage where the hours were

counted from dawn and sunset.

11. The data from the gospels can be reconciled and must be reconciled to determine what

happened and when. Nothing is irrelevant and nothing contradicts when properly understood.

12. Signs in the heavens that tie into the Scriptures are important chronological witnesses.

13. When Jesus is meeting the Passover requirements, it is because He is celebrating a Passover.

14. The weather, vegetation, climate, winds, etc. today remain approximately the same as they

did in Jesus’ day.

Other Views of the Second-First Sabbath

It is difficult to research the meaning of the word deuteroproto because few attempt to

define its meaning. Archibald Robertson says, “It is undoubtedly spurious,” and “If it were

genuine we should not know what it means.”48

The United Bible Society committee majority

proposed a scribe added the word first; another added the word second canceling out the word

first. A third scribe misunderstood and combined the words into second-first and inserted it into

the text,49

a convoluted explanation. Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich and Danker said, “Occurs no where

else”, “word of doubtful meaning. Even ancient interpreters understandably could make nothing

of it.”50

Joseph Thayer is unusual in defining this word, “seem to be, the second of the first

Sabbaths after the feast of Passover.”51

This makes some sense because the Israelites were to

start a new count of weeks on the day following the first Sabbath following Passover. But the

better understanding is how the command to count the weeks was done.52

Each of these days was

counted, the process is called counting of the Omer (Leviticus 23:15-16; Deuteronomy 16:9-10),

one would not normally count the days following Passover in the second month, but if one did

then the day the count would start would be the second first Sabbath.

Harold Hoehner said, using this passage to add a Passover “is dubious for not only is the

textual reading highly questionable, but also even if one accepts the reading, there are many

different interpretations as to its meaning and so one cannot say that it pinpoints the occasion of

the second Passover.” “To hold a view that is based on a questionable interpretation which in

turn is built upon a questionable textual reading is immediately suspect.”53

Hoehner was

48

Archibald T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Vol. II (Grand Rapids, Baker

Book House, 1930) 80. 49

Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (London, New York,

United Bible Societies, 1971) 139. 50

Walter Bauer, William F. Arndt, F. Wilbur Gingrich and Fredrick W. Danker, A Greek-

English Lexicon of the New Testament (Chicago, London, University of Chicago, 1979) 177. 51

Joseph H. Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Zondervan,

1978) 130. 52

Note there were two systems of counting the weeks, one taught by the Sadducees and one

taught by the Pharisees. The Sadducees taught that the weeks were counted from the day after

the weekly Sabbath following Passover. The Pharisees taught that Passover was a Sabbath

therefore the weeks were counted from the day following Passover. In Acts, the Holy Spirit

descended on Pentecost by the Sadducean view. 53

Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, 53.

21

referring to adding a Passover due to this passage, not what is being done here using this passage

to avoid the addition of a Passover.

David Brown says, “Second Sabbath after the first—an obscure expression, occurring

here only, generally understood to mean, the first Sabbath after the second day of unleavened

bread. The reasons cannot be stated here, nor is the opinion itself quite free from difficulty.”54

No one was found that defined deuteroproto Sabbath, the second first Sabbath, as the first

Sabbath following Passover in the second month. By so defining this meaning that event can be

properly placed in Jesus’ ministry and the events surrounding the Passover in the second month

can be properly chronicled. This one word was a key to understand that Jesus’ ministry was

linked to the Passover in the second month. This date is especially important to dating Jesus’

Capernaum ministry and limiting His public ministry to two years. The reading second first was

not rejected because there was not good manuscript support it, and not rejected because the

translators did not understand the word, but rather because the translators did not understand

what the word meant. Second first is a good word and it should be restored in future translations.

Dating Augustus and Tiberius Caesar

Most chronographers record that Augustus Caesar died on 19 August A.D. 14 (normally

A.U.C. 767) after which Tiberius Caesar came to the throne in September A.D. 14. The problem

with this is two historians record Augustus died shortly after a total eclipse of the sun was

observed.55

There was no total eclipse of the sun visible anywhere over the Roman Empire

between 1 January A.D. 1 and 15 February A.D. 17.56

This makes 15 February A.D. 17 the most

reasonable choice for the eclipse before Augustus’ death. This is three years later than Augustus’

death is normally placed. This would make the date for the death of Augustus to be actually 19

August A.D. 17. John the Baptist turned thirty just before the fourteenth anniversary of the death

of Tiberius Caesar, His ministry started in the fifteenth year of Tiberius. Luke 3:1-2, In the

fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar … the word of God came to John son of Zechariah

in the desert. The fifteenth year would start 1 October A.D. 30 and end 30 September A.D. 31.57

John’s ministry started at the beginning of Tiberius’ fifteenth year after John turned thirty years

old. Second, the Jordan Valley is like a furnace in August and September (but better than going

in ice cold water in January as Jesus did). Third, John needed to be ordained a priest. He then had

to minister as a priest in mid and late September. The October start date would also be consistent

with people coming to be baptized after the feast of Tabernacles (Sukkoth) and after completion

of the harvest, because harvests preceding Sabbath/Jubilee years were abundant. This later date

for the death of Augustus answers the problems associated with the date of the death of King

Herod the Great. King Herod did not die until after Passover A.D. 1. Most ancient chronologists

tied the dating of Jesus’ birth to a particular year in Augustus’ reign. If Augustus died three years

later than commonly assumed, then Jesus’ birth in 25 December 1 B.C. conforms to the date

54

Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausett, and David Brown, “The Gospel According to Luke”, (1871)

www.blueletterbible.org/tmp_dir/c/1099430019-7648.html. 55

“Ancient and Early Medieval Eclipses in European Sources,”

hbar.phys.msu.ru/gorm/atext/ginzele0.htm. Cassius Dio and Eusebius/Jerome

hbar.phys.msu.ru/gorm/atext/ginzele_.htm#34c 56

Total and Annular Solar Eclipse Paths: 0001 – 0020

sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEatlas/SEatlas1/SEatlas0001.GIF 57

From his succession to Augustus, counted as Syro-Macedonian Calendar years according to

the Non-Accession Year System. Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, 336.

22

given by historians of 3-2 B.C.58

This change would shift all A.U.C. dates relative to A.D. and

B.C. dates near the birth of Jesus. This would mean that Jesus’ birth in December 1 B.C. (A.U.C.

749) would properly align with the ancient calculated dates for Jesus’ birth.

Date of the Start of Jesus Ministry

Jesus turned thirty in late December A.D. 30, so John would be thirty in c. August A.D.

30. It is here inferred, that John the Baptist’s ministry started in August A.D. 30 and had been

going for about five months at the time Jesus was baptized. John was ordained when he turned

thirty years old for one-week c. 26 August to 2 September A.D. 30. Then he served as priest for a

week at the Temple as a priest in his course (Abijah) September 16 to 23 AD 30. Then he served

a week later with all the priests during the feast of Tabernacles (September 30 to October 6). It

was probably during these three periods of service in the Temple that John started to preach

repentance to the people. After his service in the Temple was completed, then he started to

baptize in the Jordan River.59

John’s ministry did not span a Tabernacles pilgrimage from

Galilee. Had it spanned a Tabernacles pilgrimage, then Jesus would already have had an

opportunity to be baptized by John as He journeyed to or from Jerusalem (unless Jesus passed

through Samaria the shorter route). That was unlikely. For the three Jewish pilgrim feasts:

Passover, Weeks and Tabernacles all faithful Jewish men went to Jerusalem. John the Baptist

being a priest would have been ministering in Jerusalem during the three pilgrim festivals. Jesus

was thirty when John baptized Him. This was necessary because Jesus’ baptism was the one

instance where He was washed by a priest, a necessary part of His priestly ordination.60

The

duration between the start of John’s ministry and the destruction of the Temple in August A.D.

70 (tisha B’Av) is very close to forty years. The transition and phasing out of the Old Covenant.

The author of Hebrews spoke of that Covenant as decaying waxing old and ready to vanish away

(Hebrews 8:13).

Passover Events in the Wilderness

It is interesting that in the wilderness, during the forty years of wandering, the water that

came from the rock followed shortly after Passover in the second month and likely during that

week (Exodus 17:6), God provided flesh and bread for the first time (quail and manna Exodus

16). (There is also the interesting context that in the following chapter and at the same time

Joshua defeated the Amalekites while Moses prayed with his arms outstretched (Exodus 17:11-

12). This appears to have been on a solar Passover. Because Jesus (the Greek form of Joshua)

provided water from His side after He prayed with His arms outstretched and while He defeated

our enemies (sin, Satan and death) on the cross on the eve of Passover. The second time God

provided water from the rock, occurred at an unspecified time during the first month (Numbers

10:1, 8-11) (so probably Passover or solar Passover, because Passover was not celebrated at this

time during the wilderness wanderings. This story immediately follows the water of cleansing

(Numbers 19 red heifer) the stone jars at the wedding of Cana were used to hold the water of

58

Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, 284-291. 59

John’ could have baptized at the Temple while he ministered there. 60

Bruce Killian, “Jesus was Anointed High Priest,” 2010,

www.scripturescholar.com/JesusPriest.pdf. This washing was “touched up” during Jesus’

ordination week when Mary of Bethany, washed His feet. The location was to be at the

entrance to the Temple, but Jesus’ Body was the Temple so where Jesus was there also was the

Temple.

23

cleansing. The number of links is great. This was the day that Moses struck the rock twice and as

a result was not allowed to enter the Promised Land, a bitter experience. Water, bread and meat

for two million people in the wilderness clearly a treasure. Also at this time, Miriam61

died

another bitter experience (Numbers 20:1, 11).

Primacy of Matthew for Chronological Order at this Time

The author is convinced Matthew was the synoptic gospel author who properly

sequenced the events of Jesus’ ministry. Matthew was the only synoptic gospel writer actually

present at most of the events recorded.62

He was a scribe and so could record events as they

happened and his occupation, a tax collector, required an accurate person. It is apparent that

Matthew was a member of the crowds before his apostolic call. Of the synoptic writers, Matthew

has about twice the number of time/sequence references as Mark does. Luke has few time

sequence references, but he was very specific when he did give a time reference. Luke did not

tend to link events, rather he says, “it came to pass.” In many of the passages disputed, Matthew

was the only synoptic writer who gave a specific time sequence reference. Therefore, in the

sequence of events recorded in the synoptic gospels when there is a disagreement Matthew has

primacy in determining the order of events. Many note that Matthew’s gospel was arranged

thematically and use this as an argument for him being non-chronological.63

It was logical for

Jesus to discourse on discrete topics and to minister in ways that supported those teachings. The

primacy of Matthew extends even when Mark and Luke agree with the order against Matthew,

because Luke to some extent based his order on the order he found in the gospel of Mark. Luke

said he gave an ordered account, but he did not say the order was a chronological order. Because

Luke collected his information from multiple first-hand sources, he probably often did not know

the exact order of all events. There is no case known where Matthew gave a sequence reference

that cannot be reconciled with Mark and Luke. The author agrees with the Augustinian

hypothesis for the sequence of synoptic development. Eusebius quoting Papias, who wrote c.

A.D. 140 stated, Mark, Peter’s interpreter, wrote accurately everything he remembered, though

not in order.64

CHRONOLOGY OF JESUS’ EARLY LIFE

Conception and Birth of John the Baptist (c. Nov 30, 2 B.C.)

The date for the conception c. 30 November 2 B.C. of John the Baptist was determined

first by determining the potential dates for the priestly course of Abijah (Luke 1:5) to which

Zechariah belonged. I estimate John was born c. 12 August 1 B.C.65

Then use that information to

61

Miriam is the Hebrew word from which Mary is derived. 62

Assuming John Mark the writer of the gospel of Mark was the rich young ruler. This author

believes that was likely. So John Mark was present at two events, the rich young ruler (Mark

10:21) and the man who fled naked at the arrest of Jesus (Mark 14:52). 63

Joe Botti, Tom Dixon, and Alex Steinman “The Problem of Apparent Chronological

Contradictions in the Synoptics,”

www.xenos.org/ministries/crossroads/OnlineJournal/issue1/synoprob.htm.

Wil Pounds, “Introduction to Gospel of Matthew,” 2006,

www.abideinchrist.com/messages/matintro.html 64

Eusebius Church History Book III chap. 39, 16 www.newadvent.org/fathers/250103.htm 65

Human gestation is normally measured from the date of the last period, not from conception.

Conception would be about two weeks shorter.

24

close in on the date matching the Roman census records for the date of Jesus’ birth. There are

two primary references for the dating of the priestly courses, The Dead Sea Scrolls and Josephus.

The Dead Sea scrolls include a detailed seven-year calendar66

that lists the order and ascension

of each course of priests to service. The rotation does not restart each year but is continuous. The

priestly calendar from the Dead Sea scrolls started in 42 B.C and lists the moon phases and

priestly courses for seven years and those match up to the date Josephus gives for the destruction

of the Temple in A.D. 7067

and the first priestly course Jehoiarib (1 Chronicles 24:7) that took

office at that time.68

This means one can determine when John the Baptist and his father

Zechariah would have served as priests in the Temple. Each course served for one week about

twice per year twenty-four weeks apart and rotating about one month earlier each year. The

priestly service started and ended at noon on the Sabbath.

The priestly courses can be used to determine the times that Zechariah served and the

potential times of the conception and birth of John the Baptist and Jesus69

In that article

“Dionysius Exiguus Got It Right,” it was concluded that the earliest date of Jesus birth was about

25 December 1 B.C. The corresponds well with the research into the census records brought to

Rome by Titus after the destruction of Jerusalem70

of the time of Jesus birth as determined by the

Roman emperors and Popes. It also corresponds well to a lunar eclipse that preceded the death of

King Herod the Great.71

In any of the years Jesus could be born, December 25 was the winter solstice the longest

night of the year. This makes good typological sense as Jesus coming into the world as the Light

66

4Q Calendar Document A and B (also called 4Q320 and 4Q321). 67

John C. Lefgren and John P. Pratt, “Dead Sea Scrolls May Solve Mystery,” 2003 www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/lds/meridian/2003/qumran.html

Flavius Josephus, Wars of the Jews VI.iv.5 (6.250), in The Complete Works of Flavius Josephus,

trans. William Whiston (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1981) p. 580. 68

Kenneth F. Doig, New Testament Chronology, (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1990),

The Division of Abijah doig.net/NTC07.htm. Josephus, Wars of the Jews, @ 69

Bruce Killian, “Dionysius Exiguus Got It Right,” 2000,

www.scripturescholar.com/DionysiusExiguus.pdf. This work was done before Lufgren and Pratt

published on the rotation of the priestly courses from the Dead Sea Scrolls, but it used

Josephus’ date for the time of the start of the first course at the destruction of the Temple and

it assumed that the priestly courses had to rotate through the year, because otherwise some

courses would serve about 50% more often than other courses. 70

Numerous Church Fathers claimed to have investigated the census records in Rome and found

written proof that the date of Jesus’ birth was December 25th. Justin Martyr (A.D. c. 114-165)

spoke of “the registers of the taxing made under Cyrenius” (Apology 1:34). Tertullian (A.D. c.

145-220) mentioned the record of the “census of Augustus” as a faithful witness to the Lord’s

birth, kept in the Roman archives (Against Marcion 4:7). By the mid fourth century, several

church Fathers appealed to the census documents to determine Jesus’ birth date. Cyril of

Jerusalem (A.D. c. 313-386) requested Pope Julius (A.D. c. 337-352), to determine the date of

Jesus’ birth “from the census documents brought by Titus to Rome.” The date assigned was

December 25th

, the eighth day before the calends of January. This was within a few decades of

Christianity becoming legal in the Roman Empire. The census records are no longer available.

www.christianwitnesses.com/id364.html @ 71

John Pratt, “Yet Another Eclipse for Herod,” The Planetarian, vol. 19, no. 4, Dec. 1990, pp. 8-

14. www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/herod/herod.html.

25

of the World. The world was darkest when He came and later in Roman history, the solstice

became known as the birthday of the invincible sun. The darkest period then was midnight on the

solstice, precisely the moment the Light of the World chose to come into the world.

Since Jesus was born on Saturday 25 December 1 B.C.,72

He was circumcised and named

on Saturday 1 January A.D. 1. This means that our Anno Domini (A.D.) dating system is exactly

correct. The B.C. system was also correct, except that today we probably would have had Jesus

born in year zero, but there was no year zero. Dionysius Exiguus only dated forward in time so

he was not responsible for eliminating the year zero, because that occurred with the introduction

of the B.C. system long after his death.

The reader is encouraged to start paying attention to Passover events, such as cleaning

leaven, an unexpected treasure, a meal, keeping vigil, everyone able to travel, a journey often

three days, worship, burial, etc.

Jesus Conceived (Wednesday 7 April 1 B.C. Midnight) {15-1 Passover}

The first Passover event was the conception of Jesus. Jesus’ ministry of removing leaven

reached back to Mary’s conception because Jesus, the most holy one, required a holy vessel to

bear Him.73

This was necessary so that He remained holy rather than being defiled by Mary at

His conception or birth (Luke 1:35; Leviticus 12:2). Mary as Jesus’ mother was the first to

receive the Eucharistic feast, the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Mary experienced

some bitterness in that she was ‘greatly troubled’ by Gabriel’s greeting. The book of Wisdom

reveals the time of Jesus’ conception. When the night was half gone [midnight] the word leaped

from heaven to earth (Wisdom 18:13-15). The context of this passage was Passover and the

Exodus from Egypt. When Jesus was conceived, He emptied Himself (Philippians 2:7); He gave

Himself as the treasure to His mother (who became queen mother)74

and to us. Mary was

keeping the official watch of the lunar-solar and solar Passover when visited by Gabriel and

continued to keep that watch in her journey. Mary was healthy enough to be able to leave that

night (Passover occurs on the full moon75

) and travel in haste. On the night of Passover, at His

conception, Jesus started on a three-day journey to the womb76

of Mary. Mary also left in haste

on a three-day (about seventy mile (113km)) journey from Nazareth to a city in the hill country

of Judah.77

Joseph was in Jerusalem as required by the Law for the Passover. John was probably

baptized by Jesus in the womb when the two first encountered {17-1} as a final cleansing of

leaven from Elizabeth and Zechariah’s home. She arrived at their home on Friday afternoon. One

can discern that because John was filled with the Holy Spirit from birth (Luke 1:15). The

Canticle of Mary (Magnificat) relates her worship of God and where she mentions God’s mighty

arm to save. Since Mary was keeping the watch and continued to keep it as she left in haste that

night on a journey to Judah. The sacred assembly was the Holy Spirit espousing Mary. Because

72

Bruce Killian, “Dionysius Exiguus Got It Right”, 2000.

www.scripturescholar.com/DionysiusExiguus.pdf. 73

Bruce Killian, “The Immaculate Conception,” 2008, www.scripturescholar.com/ImmaculateConception.pdf. 74

The mother of the king was the queen in Israel, because the king often had many wives

(Solomon had 700 wives), but Bathsheba was his queen (2 Kings 2:19). 75

Full moon means moon light from dusk to dawn. 76

The journey from the fallopian tubes until implantation in the uterus takes two to five days. 77

Note if Zechariah and Elizabeth lived in Juttah the traditional site five and a half miles south of

Hebron, then Mary’s trip would have been nearly a hundred miles and would have been

strenuous to complete in three days.

26

Jesus was in the womb, He was buried in water. In all the Passover events studied, this was the

only one where the official and solar Passover occurred on the same day.

Jesus’ burial in this event was His time in the water of the womb. The affliction was the

setting aside of His deity and the shame of motherhood before Mary married Joseph. The

question, “How will this be, since I do not know man?” The todah psalm was the Magnificat

(Luke 4: 46-55).

Jesus Born (Midnight Sunday 25 December 1 B.C.) {10-10}

Jesus was not born on Passover, so the links to Passover events are different and unique.

Jesus was born while shepherds kept watch in the fields (Luke 2:8). Shepherds kept watch so the

newborn lambs would not be trampled in the sheep pens, where the sheep spent most nights

throughout the year. Newborn lambs were born from mid December through the end of

February. In Jesus’ day, Bethlehem was within the six-mile radius around Jerusalem where all

Temple sacrifices were to originate.78

The shepherds in Bethlehem were Levites tasked with

raising and inspecting animals to be sacrificed in the Temple. Sacrifices were needed daily year

round. This means neither cold nor rain caused these shepherds to leave the vicinity of

Bethlehem.79

On the day Jesus was born, He was wrapped in swaddling clothes80

(like a baby who died

at birth) wrapped in a shroud as a sign that to indicate to them that He was born to be buried, He

was a sacrifice that needed to be inspected. He was inspected by Levitical shepherds and

certified to be without defect. He was probably found in a cave shrouded like a baby that was

wrapped for burial, after dying at birth, laid out in a tomb. Jesus, like Moses, remained hidden

for three months (Exodus 2:2-3). This means that after the shepherds inspected Jesus, probably

by lamplight, the Holy Family slipped into obscurity. The shepherds were not able to recognize

Mary or Joseph later. The shepherds proclaimed the birth of Jesus, but Mary and Joseph did not

proclaim or announce the birth of their most special son. Almost no one knew who Jesus was or

where He lived. Because of King Herod’s wicked reputation, one can assume Mary and Joseph

knew there were risks to their son’s life. The Lamb of God was born when lambs were being

born, in the place where the lambs were born that were destined to be sacrificed in the Temple.

He was inspected like a lamb, by the proper authorities. His body was wrapped as a dead body

would have been wrapped and He appeared to be laid in a tomb.

Jesus Circumcised (Noon Sunday 1 January 1 A.D.) {17-11}

Jesus was circumcised when He was eight days old on Sunday 1 January A.D. 1. Jewish

boys were named when they were circumcised, so Jesus was named on the first day of the

millennium so God properly ordered our calendar. The Roman calendar under went repeated

changes from 45BC evidently, so that the calendar would exactly align for the birth of Jesus to

78

It seems that the purpose of this rule was to increase the revenue of the Chief Priests, because

the rules was everyone had to but their lamb from the Chief Priest’s supply rather than bring

their own. “Journey (Back) to the Center of the Earth,” www.1bread.org/Teachings/Teaching-

JourneyBack.html @ better reference ref. 79

Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Book 2 chapter 6 (Grand Rapids,

Eerdmans, 1953) 186. 80

Some say that lambs were wrapped to keep them calm at birth so they did not injure

themselves. I have not been able to confirm this custom. This would be a sure sign that Jesus

was awaiting inspection after birth.

27

all ones. First day of the week, first day of the month, the first month and the first day of year,

and later it would be the first day of the millennium and of our current calendar. Jews counted

inclusively so this is seven and a half day after He was born. Since this date is a Roman date, the

Roman hour is appropriate and the first hour would be noon Roman time, which seems like a

reasonable time to be circumcised. Joseph as a carpenter was a builder, so he almost undoubtedly

built or rebuilt a house for his family to live in probably starting in a tent at that site. Since he

was a descendant of Boaz and Boaz had a threshing floor on his property, Joseph’s property

probably included a nearby hill top or ridge. By the time the magi visited, three months later,

they lived in a house. The house was probably on a farm separated from the other buildings of

Bethlehem so hiding a baby was somewhat more possible.

In 45 B.C. Julius Caesar revised the calendar to replace a calendar based on the moon. He

changed the start of the year from March to January and initially had a leap year every three

years. By 9 B.C. it was realized that the frequency of the leap year was too high so they stopped

having leap years until 8 A.D. at which time the leap years started every 4 years. By

“coincidence” what was to become year on started on Sunday and the leap years were divisible

by four into the current year. The year one was not proposed until After the Nicean Council in

325 A.D. and did not become official anywhere until Charlemagne made it official in his

kingdom. After the adjustment Pope Gregory the great in @ A.D. the calendar gradually became

the official calendar of the world, because it was an accurate standard. God organized the dating

of the world to recognize the day His Son was named Jesus Sunday January 1, A.D. so 1/1/1/1.

Presentation in the Temple (Thursday 2 February A.D. 1) {6-12}

The Law required every firstborn son be redeemed (Numbers 18:15). A payment of five

shekels was to be made when a first born male was one month old (Numbers 18:16) on Monday

24 January A.D. 1, Joseph paid the cost to redeem our Redeemer. This payment may have been

done ten days later at the time Jesus was presented at the Temple. The presentation of Jesus in

the Temple was not a Passover event, but all sacrificial offerings including Passover lambs

needed to be presented at the gate of the Temple and accepted by a priest by laying hands on its

head. The lamb/kid needed to be presented with an accompanying unleavened bread and wine

offering (Numbers 15:1-12). The lamb needed to be at least eight days old and not yet one year

old.81

Jesus was presented in the Temple when He was forty days old (Luke 2:22), so He met

those requirements. One can discern that Simeon was a priest because, he blessed the Holy

Family (Luke 2:34), and blessing was a priestly function (Numbers 6:23). The offering that was

required for a woman’s purification Leviticus 12:2, 6) was not necessary, because Jesus was holy

before and after birth (Luke 1:35) and so of necessity was Mary at Jesus’ conception and birth.

Any uncleanness in Mary including giving birth in the same manner as all other women, would

have defiled Jesus, because normal delivery made one unclean (Leviticus 12:2-4).82

Since Mary

was not unclean due to delivering Jesus, the required purification offering covered the

requirements for Jesus as the Passover Lamb. One can discern that the magi had not yet visited

the Holy Family because Joseph brought the offering allowed for the poor (Leviticus 12:8), so he

did not have any gold yet. First born males before the incident of the golden calf were

consecrated priests.

81

“Passover Lamb sacrifice Procedure,” jewishroots.net/library/holiday-articles/passover-lamb-

sacrifice-procedure.htm 82

Bruce Killian, “The Immaculate Conception,” 2008,

www.scripturescholar.com/ImmaculateConception.pdf.

28

There is a very strong indication of the number of witness (two or three) here because this

event always occurs on the second day of the second month and there were two witnesses

Simeon and Anna, who represent the priesthood and the prophets.

Magi and the Star of Bethlehem (Thursday 23 March A.D. 1) {10-1}

The magi arrived in Jerusalem and announced the star in the heavens of a newborn king

of the Jews, the messiah. God had selected a spotless Lamb for His family. The magi announced

the sign in the heavens indicating the Christ (the Lion of the tribe of Judah with His rulers staff

or scepter between His feet Genesis 49:9-10) had come on the day Israel selected their Passover

lambs, this announcement could only be on the tenth of Nissan (Exodus 12:3). This was also the

day the Bright Morning Star (Venus) reached its darkest point, immediately between the earth

and the sun. So as the sun, at the winter solstice, was darkest when He was born, the Bright

Morning Star was at its darkest, when His presence was announced.

The Scriptures through the Chief Priests and scribes directed the magi to Bethlehem,

where they went to search for the king. No one they talked to in Bethlehem could direct them to

Jesus. The shepherds, if they knew, had gone to Jerusalem by Thursday 23 March A.D. 1 to sell

lambs for and celebrate the Passover. Four days later Tuesday 27 March A.D. 1 {14-1}, the magi

saw the star of Bethlehem as it rose at dawn with the sun on the eve of Passover. They continued

to watch that star leading the sun throughout the day as the day star (2 Peter 1:19), they

watched/followed it all day.83

They probably started in the shepherd’s field to have clear view of

the sky. Whatever their location to watch the star, it was planned by God to allow them to view

the star move west to the house where Jesus lived and disappear over the house of the Holy

Family. This means the magi were somewhere to the east of Joseph’s house when they set up to

watch the bright morning star rise with the sun. The magi followed the star to the house where

Jesus and Mary were and worshipped Jesus. They brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh

enriching the Holy Family.84

Because of the time of the visit, Joseph was in Jerusalem with the assembly celebrating

the Passover Seder {15-1}. During the Passover watch, Joseph was informed by an angel, that he

needed to take his family and flee to Egypt and he immediately did so. In their flight, Holy

Family kept the Passover watch. Herod’s assumption of two years focused on the time of the

heliacal rise of the star,85

which occurred 1.6 years earlier. The magi probably mentioned the two

passages that guided them Genesis 49:9-10 and Numbers 24:17, this latter verse said that the

king would crush the heads of Sheth. That was another name for Edom and Herod was an

Idumean or Edomite. He attempted to kill Jesus to protect his dynasty. King Herod expanded the

1.6 years to two years for certainty. The threat of death was real, because the boys in Bethlehem

83

Those who say that the Star of Bethlehem was a conjunction of Jupiter and Venus appearing to

be the brightest star ever seen, fail to realize that Venus for a few days before and after it

becomes visible near its inferior conjunction is bright enough to be seen during the day. Also

Jesus is the Bright Morning Star not the bright evening star. 84

Scriptures says that kings from the East would bring gold and frankincense, but no mention of

myrrh. It is possible that some or all of the oil (myrrh) was used to anoint Jesus as king; the

magi were known as kingmakers. 85

Our Lady of Guadalupe indirectly called special attention to the winter solstice and the

heliacal rising of Venus (combining the sign at the birth of Jesus and the visit of the magi),

when she gave the sign to Juan Diego in the winter solstice December 12, A.D. 1531 on the

morning when Venus rose for the last time with the sun.

29

died. Rather than removing all the leaven from Israel, the Holy Family left behind the leavened

dough that was Israel. The death of the boys of Bethlehem with the weeping and wailing along

with leaving their home land were a bitter experiences.

All were sufficiently healthy to flee on a long journey that night. God’s strong arm was

shown in that He created a sign in the heavens at the foundation of the world, able to convince

the magi to journey from the east. He also spoiled King Herod’s plot to kill the newborn king.

Because it was Passover the moon was full all night so they could travel all night. Because

Joseph now had money (from the magi), they probably traveled southwest to the Mediterranean

coast and the free city of Ascalon (forty miles (65km)) {17-1}, embarked on a ship bound for

Egypt and sailed to Egypt crossing the water on the third day to safety and by the next day

Friday March 31, A.D. 1 {18-1} escaping to Egypt. Their journey, if all on land, was two

hundred miles (320 km) across the desert and one hundred miles (160 km) of that in Herod’s

territory most of which was open country. That would be hard on a three-month-old child and

they would be more likely to be caught by Herod’s troops on horseback or chariot. Once in

Egypt they would be safe from Herod, because Egypt was the breadbasket of Rome so it was

kept under direct Roman control. A todah event, the imminent threat of death was averted.

The Holy Family Returns from Egypt (c. Passover A.D. 2)

Sometime later, the Holy Family returned from Egypt, since King Herod was said to

have died shortly before Passover.86

Because of the three year shift in the date of the death of

Augustus it is likely that King Herod died a month or two before Passover A.D. 2. Therefore, the

Holy Family probably arrived near Jerusalem in time to celebrate Passover. After the Passover,

they settled in Nazareth, because of the continued danger to Jesus from Herod’s son Archelaus if

they lived in Judea.

Passover when Jesus was Twelve (Saturday 15 to 24 April A.D. 13) {15 to 24-1}

Galileans traveled to Jerusalem in a caravan going around Samaria using a road along the

eastern bank of the Jordan River and then at Jericho crossing the Jordan and making the ascent to

Jerusalem and they returned by the same route. It probably took the caravan about five days to go

to Jerusalem and five days to return to the Sea of Galilee. Jesus shared a treasure of ‘wisdom’

because wisdom is more precious that rubies (Proverbs 8:11). Jesus did the things of His

(heavenly) Father, so Jesus cleaned leaven out of leaders understanding of Law (Luke 2:46-47).

All the normal Passover requirements were fulfilled by properly keeping the Passover (Saturday

15 April A.D. 13). The bitter herbs were the sorrow, which Mary and Joseph experienced. Mary

and Joseph journeyed in haste when they realized that Jesus was missing. Jesus’ showed His

mighty arm when He taught and amazed the teachers when He was only twelve.87

Mary and

Joseph probably found Jesus early in the morning of the third day, when they came to the

Temple to pray. On their return to Jerusalem, Mary and Joseph crossed the Jordan River.

86

John Pratt, “Yet Another Eclipse for Herod,” Reprinted from The Planetarian*, vol. 19, no. 4,

Dec. 1990, pp. 8-14. www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/herod/herod.html. 87

Jesus’ additional time staying in Jerusalem at that time may have been related to keeping the

solar Passover; I have not yet investigated the calendar that year.

30

Jesus C

ould

Read

and W

rite Em

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ym

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f Josep

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s

Mary’s relative Elizabeth (Luke 1:36) was of the house of Aaron so she was of a

priestly family (Luke 1:5). Elizabeth was probably Mary’s mother’s sister. The

priestly families were trained to read and write. This means that Mary’s mother was

able to teach her how to read and write and she in turn taught Jesus. (And Salome,

Mary’s sister taught her sons James and John to read and write). It also means that

Mary’s mother married someone of the tribe of David. So that Mary and in turn Jesus

would be a descendant of the house of David. Moses said that the king was to make

His own copy of the Scriptures (Deuteronomy 17:18-20). Jesus was the king of Israel

so He had to make His own copy, therefore He needed to be able to read and write.

Therefore, one of the things Jesus was occupied in was making His own copy of the

Scriptures. The king was to keep the Scriptures with him all the time. Probably after

writing them out, Jesus did this by memorizing them.

At the time of King Herod the Great’s death, the city of Sepphoris, the capital

of Galilee, revolted against Roman rule and was destroyed. Over the following

decades, Sepphoris was rebuilt into the jewel of Galilee. Sepphoris was about five

miles north of Nazareth. It is likely first Joseph and later Jesus were employed in the

construction of that city. That reconstruction was probably a reason Joseph resettled in

Nazareth. Buildings were mainly stone, except for the roof structure and the door and

frame. From this it can be discerned that Jesus as a carpenter maybe was a doorway

maker. This will become an important insight at the crucifixion. With a ten-mile hike

each day, Jesus would have many opportunities to observe the fields, shepherds,

soldiers, etc. that were so important as the content of His parables. To do business

with the gentiles, Jesus had to become proficient in speaking Greek. Because

Sepphoris was the capital of a Roman government, Jesus may also have learned to

speak at least some Latin.

Galilee at that time had a population for about two million people and about

twenty-five percent of those were Jewish. That is why it was called Galilee of the

gentiles (Matthew 4:15). Nazareth was a small town on the side of a hill with a

population somewhere between two hundred and fifty and four hundred people.

A Brief Description of Passover

The eve of Passover and the feast of unleavened bread occurs on the fourteenth day of the

first month (Nisan/Abib). This was the day all leaven was removed. The Passover banquet called

the Seder was celebrated that evening at the start of the fifteenth day. There was a second

Passover the fourteenth day of the second month for those who were unable to celebrate the

Passover in the first month. The period of Passover included the time from the eve of Passover

until the end of the feast, which included the seven days of the feast of unleavened bread.

At the Passover, the Israelites were commanded to do a series of things. Moses pled with

Pharaoh to allow them to take a three-day journey into the wilderness and offer sacrifice.

Pharaoh died refusing that request. The sacrifice they would offer might be abhorrent to the

Egyptians. They were commanded to select a year-old male lamb or kid without defect on the

tenth of the month for each family/household. They were commanded to ask the Egyptians for

gold, silver and clothes. They were commanded to remove all leaven from their houses. Passover

had to be celebrated in a state of ritual purity. They were commanded to slay their lamb between

the evenings (in the afternoon) on the fourteenth day and initially put the blood of the lamb (or

kid) on the doorposts and top post of their houses. In Jesus’ day, the blood was to be poured on

31

the ground at the base of the sides of the altar of sacrifice in the Temple. The lamb was hung on a

cross-shaped stick framework and skinned.88

The lamb was roasted whole without breaking its

bones. They ate the lamb together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They ate it in haste

prepared to leave on a journey—staff in hand, sandals on feet and loins girt. They were to be

ready to leave immediately on a journey. They kept a vigil or watch after they had eaten the

sacrificial feast. They left that night on a journey. On the night of the third day, they crossed the

Red Sea. After journeying three more days without water they came to the “bitter” waters of

Marah that God made sweet. When Israel exited Egypt, everyone (about two million people) was

healthy and able to travel by foot. They were all baptized in the Red Sea crossing. They all ate

unleavened bread for the seven days of the feast. They held a sacred assembly on the first and

last days of the feast. They did no work except to prepare the food. Any of the lamb left until

morning was to be burned up. When your children asked what does this mean, they said this is

what God did for me. At that time, the people bowed down and worshipped. Males must be

circumcised to eat the Passover. This observance was like a sign on your hand and a reminder on

your forehead. That means they were to be very familiar with the details of that feast. The LORD

brought you out with a mighty hand (it was a personal redemption). On the third day was

Pharaoh and the Egyptian army were sacrificed something that was certainly abhorrent to the

Egyptians.89

Passover Refinement to details of Jesus’ Ministry

As we have already begun to see, the chronology of Jesus’ ministry as recorded in the

gospels was profoundly linked to Passover events.90

A Passover event, as defined in this article

lasted from the time of the selection of the Passover lamb and the eve of Passover until the week

of unleavened bread concluded. Jesus fulfilled the Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7-9), but in His

ministry it shows up clearly if one knows what to look for. A Passover has a series of events like

cleaning out leaven, asking questions, keeping a vigil, a treasure, everyone healthy and a sudden

journey. The Passover was celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month and may be

alternatively celebrated on the fifteenth day of the second month under certain conditions.

Further, it appears that Jesus kept not only the official lunar-solar Passover, but He also kept the

Passover by the solar calendar as well. Combining these means Jesus sometimes kept up to four

Passover events per year. In the month following the Exodus before the Passover in the second

month was instituted, manna and quail were first given to Israel. During the Passover week in the

second month in the evening God gave Israel flesh to eat and in the morning bread to eat for the

first time. That was quail and manna after the fifteenth day of the second month (Exodus 16:1,

8). This will be important when Jesus feeds the five thousand and then four thousand on

Passovers. They also at this time received water from the rock for the first time and defeated the

Amalekites (Exodus 16-17). Those appear to have occurred on the solar Passover. All Passover

feasts (that is meals) mentioned in the gospels occur on the solar Passover. The Passover events

during the Old Testament point to Passover events during Jesus’ ministry.

88

Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist, (New York, Doubleday, 2011) 63-4.

Ref. Pesahim, 7:1; Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho the Jews, 40. 89

The 14th

in Egypt must have been a Sabbath because Israel traveled for the next six days.

There are hints at the Exodus; the solar Passover was celebrated as well. 90

There were hint of this when I learned the magi arrived to visit Jesus in the early evening of

Passover as the Seder was being celebrated in Jerusalem. The magi brought gifts and the holy

family fled that night for Egypt.

32

On occasion the Passover lasted two weeks much as Hezekiah kept the second month

Passover for two weeks (2 Chronicles 30:13, 23). The signs of Passover will be illustrated

following each day in the next section. This is expanded by there being a solar and a lunar solar

Passover as separate events. It is observed that most recorded incidents during Jesus’ ministry

were linked to Passover. It cannot yet be shown from the Old Testament, but the gospels also had

Passover events that happened one month before Passover this will be shown shortly at the

wedding of Cana. These events one month before Passover are called Adar Passovers because

that is the name of the last month of the Jewish calendar. Add to this about one extended

Passover per year with an additional week and the number of Passover events per year was about

six.

There is a companion document a chronological harmony of the gospels that was

generated as part of this study see Gospel Harmony Douay.91

JESUS’ FIRST YEAR OF MINISTRY A CHRONOLOGICAL NARRATIVE

Baptism and Forty Day Fast (c. Monday 8 January 31) {23-10}

This was not a Passover event. About Sunday, 7 January A.D. 31 (Julian calendar), Jesus

left Nazareth for a forty to fifty-mile (64-80km) trip to the Jordan River to be baptized. John the

Baptist was then baptizing at the Jordan River at Anon,92

about twenty to forty miles (32-64km)

south of the Sea of Galilee. The next day John the Baptist announced the presence among the

people of the Messiah (John 1:26). Late that day Monday {22-10}, Jesus was baptized by John in

the Jordan River.93

That was 8 January A.D. 31 on the Julian calendar, 6 January A.D. 31 on the

Gregorian calendar, and Tevet 22 on the Jewish lunar-solar calendar. It is interesting to note that

Jesus’ baptism was on the eighth calendar day following His circumcision, thirty years later.

Jesus was likely baptized in the evening because of the travel distance from Nazareth; the Bible

says, “the heavens were opened,” probably indicating that clouds cleared and some stars could be

seen. This may indicate that there was sign in the heaven that John saw. A forty-day fast starting

as the day started in the evening makes sense. Did Jesus wait in a line of penitents to be

baptized? At that time Jesus was already thirty years old (because He was meeting the Aaronic

priesthood requirements for washing before ordination),94

because that was the minimum age of

ordination. That day Jesus’ started a forty-day fast (Mark 1:9-12). The fast actually lasted forty-

six days because it was illegal to fast on a feast day and all Sabbath days were feast days.95

The

author has assumed Jesus’ fast would end on a Sabbath (so the last days of His fast would be the

most difficult), as that would put the longest possible period of continuous fasting at the end of

the period of fasting.96

Josephus interpreted the reading of the Law during the feast of

91

Bruce Killian, “Gospel Harmony Douay,” 2011,

www.scripturescholar.com/GospelHarmonyDouay.pdf. 92

The exact location of Anon is disputed. 93

Jesus’ baptism could have occurred late in the day—the phrase the heavens opened could

mean that the stars were seen which means the dove that appeared to descend on Jesus could

have been a comet. 94

Exodus 29:4; Leviticus 8:5-6. 95

This is similar to the Churches teaching on Lent today. 96

This is much as Lent does today.

33

Tabernacles as specifically prohibiting fasting on feast days.97

“No fasting was done on the

Sabbath (Judith, viii, 6) on the contrary, the choicest meals were served to which friends were

invited.”98

During the period of His fast, Jesus was in the wilderness of Judah. This could be the

area west of the Dead Sea and if He wandered during this period, it may have included the area

down to the Negev. Jesus may have ended the forty days at Mt Sinai, because the only other

Biblically recorded forty-day fasts, those of Moses and Elijah both ended at Mt. Sinai. Mt Sinai

is also called Horeb (Deuteronomy 9:8-9, 1 Kings 19:8).99

Moses and Elijah were also tested

during their fasts. Because of the distance, it was more likely that Jesus fasted in the area of

Judea beyond the Jordan. It could be that Jesus stayed on Mt. Nebo/Pisgah, because that

mountain was the place the Ark of the Covenant was hidden by Jeremiah, and it was called a

holy mountain.100

God made some unusual provisions for Moses and Elijah’s fasts, Moses went

without water and Elijah was fed special bread and water by an angel. This mountain was also

the place where Moses went to die and Elijah was headed toward or already on when the fiery

chariot took him.101

Jesus had to be ordained to be legally able to offer sacrifice. By the law

Jesus could not offer any sacrifice because He was not a Levitical priest (but neither was Moses

and he did), but David’s sons were priests (but not Levites) (2 Samuel 8:18) and Jesus was son of

David and a priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4). So it appears that Jesus

was a priest and could after ordination, offer sacrifice.

The First Disciples (Thursday 1 March 31) {Purim 14 to 20-12}

Jesus rested from His fast on the Sabbath {11-12}, then made a journey back to John the

Baptist and arrived on the third day, the feast of Purim. This was the fiftieth day since Jesus’

baptism, almost like a jubilee day for the start of His ministry. This was a Passover event one

month before the normal time. Jesus arrived near John at the Jordan and John the Baptist pointed

Him out as the Lamb of God (John 1:29). Jesus was probably visible in the distance, but not

nearby. It seems likely that the six men who became Jesus’ earliest disciples used the feast Purim

as the reason to take time off from work and to journey three days into the wilderness to John to

be baptized.102

Jesus’ first disciples were baptized by John probably on Tuesday the third-day

(Purim) {14-12}. They were cleansed from the leaven of sin, and received the treasure of

spiritual birth. Baptism symbolically portrays death and burial. The gospel of John gives the day-

by-day detail of this period (John 1:19-51). The Pharisees challenged John the Baptist and

rejected his message and teaching. John called them a brood of vipers, a bitter event (because the

disciples learned their religious leaders were evil). The next day {15-12} the second day of

97

Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 11.chap. 5.sect. 5,

www.godrules.net/library/flavius/flaviusb11c8.htm or www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-

bin/text?lookup=j.+aj+11.chap.+5.sect.+5&vers=english;whiston&browse=1 98

F. Bechtel, “Sabbath,” Catholic Encyclopedia, 1912, www.newadvent.org/cathen/13287b.htm. 99

The traditional site of Sinai is wrong see Bruce Killian, “The Bible vs. Archaeology, You

Decide”, 2002, www.scripturescholar/BibleArchaeology.pdf. The actual site is Har Karkom

near the southern border of modern Israel. 100

Bruce Killian, “The Time and Place of the Transfiguration,” 2001,

www.scripturescholar.com/EasterTransfiguration.pdf. Holy Mountain 2 Peter 1:18; c.f. 2

Maccabees 2:7-8. 101

Bruce Killian, “The Time and Place of the Transfiguration,” 2001,

www.scripturescholar.com/EasterTransfiguration.pdf. 102

Acts 1:22 The early qualification as an apostle included baptism by John.

34

Purim, John announced and identified Jesus as the Lamb of God (probably in the evening, and

maybe across the river, because no one went to Jesus right away). Jesus was God’s Passover

Lamb, the one Lamb for God the Father’s entire household (to be eaten and whose Blood would

protect from the destroyer). Purim was a day for feasting. (That day we will see in the next

section was the Passover in a Passover event one month before the official Passover (referred to

as the Adar Passover event)). The following day {16-12} about 10 AM,103

John the Baptist again

identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God and so encouraged Andrew and John bar Zebedee to follow

Jesus (Thursday 1 March A.D. 31) (John 1:35-39). After spending the day with Jesus, they found

their brothers Simon and James, respectively, who also became disciples. (So all of these men

later to be apostles first followed Jesus on a Passover and later Jesus would choose His apostles

on a Passover. Jesus gave Simon the new name Peter {17-12} (John 1:40-41).104

John the Baptist

apparently sent John and Andrew to Jesus at the time he needed to leave. John the Baptist needed

to leave then because on Saturday 3 March A.D. 31, he ministered as a priest in the Temple in

the course of Abijah for eight days, so no later than Thursday morning he had to leave to journey

the fifty or so miles (80km) to Jerusalem. See Dionysius Exiguus105

for the details of the dating

of the priestly courses. Because John departed, there was less reason for John’s disciples not to

accompany Jesus. It is likely that while he ministered at the Temple a few months later at

Passover John called attention to the scandal of Herod the tetrarch and Herodias’ adulterous

union. At Passover, the crowds could protect John from Herod, when he confronted the couple.

On the following day, the Sabbath {18-12}, Jesus and His disciples prepared to make their way

back to Galilee. However, in the crowds, Jesus located at least two more disciples Nathaniel106

of

Cana and Philip of Bethsaida. Jesus told Nathanael they all would see the heavens opened and

angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man. This prophesy was fulfilled the following

day (John 1:51). The day Jesus made that prophesy was the eve of the Adar solar Passover. So

Jesus called attention to the sign on the day the sign pointed to. Dr. Jaubert observed that

according to the solar calendar, most journeys in the Bible began on a Sunday or Wednesday and

ended on a Friday. Wednesday was always an important day.107

Sabbath (Saturday 2 March 31)

On the Sabbath following Purim the Jews read the first part of the Parshah. The Sabbath

is called Shabbat Purah. They read the passage on the water of cleansing with the ashes of the

red heifer. This is to remind the people to be cleansed with the water of purification before going

up to Jerusalem for Passover if necessary. This is of interest because in just a couple of days

Jesus will be changing water in stone vessels used to hold this water of cleansing into wine,

which is also called the frothy blood of the grape.

103

“the fourth hour” John consistently gives the time according to the Roman method of tracking

time, this is most evident in that Jesus was condemned by Pilate at 6AM and crucified at 9AM,

not that Jesus was condemned at Noon but crucified on the same day at 9AM. Jesus was

fulfilling the morning and evening sacrifices offered at 9AM and 3PM. 104

John the apostle finds his brother James was only indirectly stated. Andrew finds his brother

first, implies John found his brother second. 105

Bruce Killian, “Dionysius Exiguus”, 2000, www.scripturescholar.com/DionysiusExiguus.pdf 106

Nathanael was also called Bartholomew. 107

Annie Jaubert, The Date of the Last Supper (NY, Alba House, 1965) 39.

35

A Sign in the Heavens (Sunday 3 March 31)

The seven, left Sunday morning on a two-day journey to Cana in Galilee climbing out of

the Jordan valley. The evening before they could not see it because they were in a valley

(someone in the Grand Canyon can’t see the horizon). This sign happened on the evening

immediately following the solar Passover, thirty-one days before the regular solar Passover.108

This type of Passover event will be referred to as an Adar Passover event. God provided a sign in

the heavens to link the Lamb of God to the cross as a ladder or stairway to heaven.109

Just after

sunset, there was sign in the heavens to mark the start of Jesus’ ministry. In the early evening of

Sunday 4 March A.D. 31 {19-12}, all five visible planets formed a ladder in the western sky

reaching from earth with its top in the center of the sky and marking the constellation of the

Lamb (Aries). The visible planets are brighter than the stars. The Lamb in the sky was looking at

the ladder/cross. That partially confirmed Jesus statement (John 1:51). See Lamb of God. This

also formed a cross with planets forming the vertical beam and a cloud the horizontal beam

showing the cross and the Lamb as the ladder or way to heaven.110

The ladder links back to

Jacob’s dream where he saw angels ascending and descending on the House of God (Genesis

28:11-22). The angels Jesus refers to are probably meteorites streaking up and down the ladder

that looked like far away angels appearing as streaks of light to ascend and descend the ladder.

An angel probably did minister to Jesus while He prayed at that time much as an angel

ministered to Him during His fast and would minister to Him in the garden of Gethsemane. Since

Jesus called His Body the Temple (John 2:19) and the Temple was the House of God, the story

matches, because the ladder reached from the House of God (Jesus) to heaven.

It was about fifty miles (80km) from the Jordan River uphill to the city of Cana; it is

assumed this trip took about two days. This would mean that Jesus and His disciples arrived

about Monday evening just as the wedding started. Why did Jesus start at Cana? Jesus’ first two

‘signs’ recounted miracles that occurred at Cana, this must have been a town full of faith, one

able to empower and launch Jesus’ early ministry.

This Passover event did not occur at a Passover time (wrong month) and this event

overlapped the following solar Passover, two weeklong events starting a month early at Purim as

the feast day from the time the disciples’ journey to visit John and be baptized and ending at the

end of the wedding feast. It is only at the wedding in Cana that we learn how those events were

Passover events.

There was a watch because Jesus said to Nathanael that He saw him under the fig tree.

However, Nathanael seemed to over react, because he said, “You are the King of Israel, you are

the Son of God” (an act of worship)—this makes it seem that Jesus saw Nathanael during a night

watch when he did not think he could be observed (John 1:48-51). It appears that Nathanael and

Jesus both kept a watch at night so Jesus was able to observe Nathanael when Nathanael believed

he could not be seen, so in the darkness of night under the fig tree, the place Nathanael kept his

108

It might seem from Biblical links that Jesus and His disciples were at Bethel at this time, but

they were probably further north to arrive in Cana, by Monday evening. It is over sixty miles

from Bethel to Cana. 109

Bruce Killian, “The Ladder to Heaven—The Lamb of God,” 2006,

www.scripturescholar.com/LambofGod.pdf. 110

The angels ascending and descending on Jesus were probably meteorites. Angel means

messenger is does not require a being, and meteorites could deliver a message.

36

vigil. Most of these disciples found Jesus at that time, rather than the other way around which

happened at their call. Later Jesus will come back and call them.

Wedding at Cana (Tuesday 6 March 31 through Monday) {21 to 27-12}

The third day {20-12}, Monday evening (we would say the day after tomorrow); they

arrived in Cana of Galilee and went to a wedding feast. However, there is a second way to look

at this third day. The traditional Jewish wedding started on Tuesday (that is Monday evening),

the third day of the week, because on the third day of creation God said, “It is good” twice

(Genesis 1:10-12). So Tuesday was considered a day of double blessing. The Jews referred to

most days by number rather than by name, the exceptions were Friday which was called the day

of preparation and Saturday which was called the Sabbath. Here the third day refers to both the

day after tomorrow and Tuesday. The traditional Jewish wedding lasted one week (Genesis

29:27-28). The changing of water into wine probably occurred near the beginning of the wedding

week because Jesus avoided waste, since He created “much wine” therefore there must have

been a need. The planned for wine at the wedding hit a snag, a bitter event. Second, the wedding

guests had not yet switched to poorer wine. Why would there be a need for about a hundred and

fifty gallons of wine? Probably the wine planned for of the feast, turned to vinegar. This is

strengthened because the steward “tasted” the wine, to verify quality.

The wedding at Cana (John 2:1-2:11), continued as part of the solar Adar Passover event

a month early “out of its proper time” Passover event. At the wedding, the Blessed Mother asked

Jesus to deal with a problem, a lack of wine. Jesus answered, Woman, what is that to Me and to

you? My hour has not yet come.” It appears that at His hour, He could deal with that problem. In

John’s gospel, Jesus refers to His hour and it always is linked to a Passover event, so it is

proposed here that Jesus’ hour is the hour of the start of Passover. While it is understood that

John recognized that pattern, he did not emphasis it, rather he presented the facts and let his

reader interpret them, much as Jesus told parables and the hearers were to interpret in order to

understand. This explains how He could have two “My hours” during His final week. Jesus was

able to provide a feast at the hour of Passover.

It appears that it was the Blessed Mother’s request, which changed this event from a

normal week to a special Passover event. That was an Adar Passover event. And that happened

after the fact and included two partially overlapped weeklong Passover events. This change of

water to wine occurred on the correct day of the week and likely at the right time (the evening)

probably after one day of drinking so the good wine was gone, but before the last six days of the

wedding so the need for a large amount of wine. When one looks over the events of the last and

following week, a Passover theme is evident. They cleansed leaven, went on a journey, arrived

on the third day and received a treasure. Jesus had been afflicted forty days, and the disciples

were afflicted as they practiced what John preached, repentance/penance so each chose some

form of affliction.

There was a treasure the fine wine in six large stone jars, about one hundred and fifty

gallons of wine (John 2:6). The disciples made a three-day journey to get to John and they made

a journey to get to Cana for the wedding (John 2:1). For both journeys, they had to cross Jordan

River to get to and from John. God’s strong arm was revealed because there was a sign in heaven

a ladder, cross, slain Lamb, and angels ascending and descending (the straight highway as well)

on Jesus the Temple of God. The wine made from water in the stone jars used to hold the water

of cleansing from sin of death (Numbers 19). The meal the first week was the feast of Purim the

second week was the wedding feast with good wine on Tuesday evening.

37

Jesus changed water into wine at the request of His mother making this entire period two

Passover events that were out of the proper time sequence. Because these events were in the last

month of the year (Adar, Veadar, or Adar II), they have been designated Adar Passover events.

Jesus was able to do anything, but He appears to have limited Himself to act only when faith was

evident. The water Jesus changed into wine was flowing or living water because the water of

cleansing had to come from flowing water and that water was for cleansing the worst of

uncleanness that of death. Therefore, the wine cleansed those at the wedding of their sin. Without

making the recipients unclean, before they were made clean as the water of cleansing always

did.111

One can tell the water now wine was holy rather than unclean, because it was consumed

rather than being sprinkled as all holy consumables were. It is likely that this was not most holy

as the Eucharistic wine is because that wine would wait for the Last Supper.

First Passover of His Public Ministry (Thursday 29 March 31) {15 to 21-1}

Jesus then journeyed to Capernaum for a few days where He and His family joined a

caravan of pilgrims as they journeyed to Jerusalem for the official Passover (John 2:12-13). It is

assumed the term ‘the Passover was near’ meant that it was about time to journey to Jerusalem

for the Passover. The journey to Jerusalem was probably in the company of a great caravan of

slow moving travelers. After arriving in Jerusalem before Passover, Jesus cleansed the Temple

for the first time (John 2:14-22). Because the Temple was His Father’s House and He had no

place to lay His head, the Temple was His House so He cleansed the leaven from His House as

was required for Passover. This was a direct challenge to the religious leaders who profited from

that business and put Jesus on their bad side from the start. Passover marked the actual start of

Jesus ‘public ministry’. During Passover, Jesus did His first public miracles, we are not given

details, but many were healed. He conversed with Nicodemus who came by night—already

association with Jesus was frowned upon (John 3:1-21).

The Week of the Solar Passover (Wednesday 4 to 10 April A.D. 31) {21-1}

Nicodemus Visits Jesus (Night Tuesday 3 April A.D. 31) {20-1}

During Christ’s public ministry, this first year official lunar-solar Passover was followed

six days later by the solar Passover. The official Passover was celebrated on Wednesday evening

the solar Passover on the following Tuesday evening.

Nicodemus came on Tuesday evening (on the last evening he could expect Jesus to be in

Jerusalem) at the start of the solar Passover. Jesus alluding to His crucifixion said just as Moses

lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up (John 3:14-15). This

happened two modern calendar years before the crucifixion. It also occurred two solar years

before the Last Supper. Jesus said we must be born of water—likely a reference to both physical

birth and baptism to enter the kingdom of heaven. He also said we must be born of the Spirit.

Jesus was not teaching in parables, but He was not clear enough to be easily understood by

Israel’s teacher.

The solar Passover’s weeks events started with Jesus cleansing Nicodemus’

understanding, of the necessity of baptism by water and by the Spirit (John 3:10-21). The

cleansing also included baptizing of the Galilean pilgrims returning from Passover along with

Jesus’ visit to the town of Sychar and the healing of a nobleman’s son. This Passover event

111

The wine and the bread of the Eucharist, our Lord’s Body and Blood always cleanse of venial

sin.

38

connects five apparently unrelated incidents. Jesus’ talk with Nicodemus, the disciples baptizing

in the Jordan; the arrest of John the Baptist; Jesus conversed with the woman at the well and the

Jesus healed the nobleman’s son.

Baptizing near Jericho (Thursday 5 April A.D. 31) {22-1}

After the official Passover and the week of Unleavened Bread, Jesus and His disciples

journeyed to the Jordan River and baptized {22-1} the Galilean pilgrims. Their journey could

have occurred after sunset on Wednesday to maximize their opportunity. Jesus’ disciples

baptized the crowds returning to Galilee from Passover—here they cleansed the leaven of sin out

of the people who had not been baptized by John. It was a convenient time for the people

because they needed to ford the Jordan River near Jericho and then passed along the eastern bank

of the Jordan River on their return to Galilee.112

If you are already wet and a prophet said to be

baptized, many would go ahead and get baptized, timing can be important.

John the Baptist Arrested (c. Thursday 5 April A.D. 31) {22-1}

Shortly after this, John the Baptist was arrested. He had made accusations at Jerusalem

during his required ministry as a priest in the Temple at the Passover (all priests served at the

Temple during the pilgrim feasts), to Herod Antipas about the scandal of his adultery with

Herodias (his brother Philip’s wife). He was not immediately arrested because of fear of what the

crowds would have done. When the feast ended and the crowd dispersed back to their homes, the

chance of a riot diminished, so John was promptly arrested (at the Jordan River in tetrarch

Herod’s territory). This probably occurred as soon as possible so sometime mid day Thursday.

There was no considerable time between Jesus’ temptation and the arrest of John the

Baptist the synoptic gospels make these make those sequential events (Matthew 4:11-12; Mark

1:13-14; Luke 4:13-14). Most chronologies of Jesus’ ministry have the ministry of John the

Baptist continuing in parallel with Jesus’ ministry for at least six months. This can be shown

wrong, Luke says, ‘As John was completing his work, he said: 'Who do you think I am? I am not

that one. No, but He is coming after me, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie’ (Acts 13:25).

John the Baptist’s work was nearly complete ‘before’ Jesus was baptized; therefore, John the

Baptist’s ministry did not extend much beyond Jesus’ return from fasting. Most chronologist

have John’s ministry extend at least into the following year. Most assign John about six months

from the start of his ministry until the baptism of Jesus; therefore his ministry could not extend

more than a few more months and still be “nearly complete.” The arrest of John the Baptist was a

bitter experience.

Sychar the Woman at the Well (Friday 6 April A.D. 31) {23-1}

As soon as Jesus heard of John’s arrest, He and His disciples returned from the Jordan to

Galilee, by an unusual route that passed through Samaria and stopped in Sychar a Samaritan

town.113

Jesus took a more strenuous route but avoided Herod’s territory. Herod could not arrest

112

This was done to avoid passing through Samaria Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of

Jesus the Messiah, 1883, Book 2 Chapter 6 footnote 12. 113

Called Shechem in the Old Testament. John 4:4-5. Jews going from Jerusalem were not

welcome in Samaria, but here because of the journey to the Jordan, they are neither coming

from nor going to Jerusalem so they are accepted. Samaritan synagogues were very similar to

39

Jesus in Samaria, because it was not his territory. Late in the afternoon after a thirty-mile (48

km) journey they arrived at Jacob’s well where Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman. During

the ensuing conversation, Jesus revealed that He was able to provide the Water of Life. This

occurred in a Passover context in the solar Passover week following the official week of

Passover celebration. John told us it was the sixth hour, He does not mean she came at noon to

avoid meeting others; rather it was about the time of the change from one day to the next that is

sunset. This well was well outside of town so it would not be the most convenient location for

the people of the city to get their water. Jesus spoke with that woman two solar years before the

crucifixion. While there, Jesus spent two days (Saturday and Sunday) talking to the people of the

town.114

The grain in the fields was ready to harvest (John 4:35)115

therefore it was still spring.

Jesus made believers of these people, He sowed the gospel but He did not reap the harvest of the

Samaritans.

Here Jesus promised the treasure of Living Water, which would no longer need to be

drawn from the well (so God’s strong arm). The people of the town accepted Jesus as the Christ

(the lamb was chosen). The assembly in Sychar was a sacred assembly. Jesus completed His

journey to Galilee on the third day (after staying there two days). Jesus talked about true

worshippers (but there was no worship specifically mentioned).

Cana a Royal Official’s Son Healed (7PM Tuesday 10 April A.D. 31) {27-1}

This was the end of the week of solar Passover. Jesus went to Cana and His disciples

went to Capernaum probably to return to fishing. A disciple116

in Capernaum announced that

Jesus was in Cana so shortly before Jesus was due to head back to Nazareth to read the

Scriptures in the synagogue on the Sabbath, a royal official,117

with a sick son back in

Capernaum, caught up to Jesus in Cana seventeen miles (27km) away. As a royal official, he

probably traveled by chariot. Because this was Jesus’ hour, He did not accompany the official

back to Capernaum as requested so Jesus acted on the request. About 7PM (nightfall), Jesus told

the official his son was healed.118

He also had a divine appointment in Nazareth in the other

direction a few days later on the Sabbath. His servants met the official the next day while he was

on the way back to Capernaum. At least one of Jesus’ disciples accompanied the servant (or soon

followed) and brought the news of that remote healing. That disciple continued on to Nazareth,

so the news of that healing reached Nazareth in a timely fashion by the following Sabbath.

John’s gospel called this healing the second sign Jesus performed (the first was turning water

into wine five weeks earlier in the same town). Both signs happened the same day of the week

Jewish synagogues so there was probably little that separated these nations, other than bitter

animosity. 114

Didache 11, a true apostle would stay in a town only one or two days. Therefore, it is likely

that Jesus never stayed anywhere longer than two days in a row. Two days meant there was a

real need. 115

Jesus is calling the attention of the disciples not to neglect to announce the gospel because of

the nationality of the hearers—in this case, Samaritans (the ripe barley) rather than the grapes

and olives still four months away that often represent Israel. Israel had not yet been fully

tended. Where as the Samaritans were already ready to be harvested. 116

The disciple was likely Jesus’ first cousin the Apostle John. 117

This official was possibly Cuza the steward of Herod’s household in Capernaum. 118

It was the new moon too dark to attempt to return to Capernaum that night.

40

during a solar Passover week. In the chronology of those who propose a three-year ministry, this

event occurs at least six months later. It appears Tuesday evening was the hour when many of

Jesus' signs occurred. When He arrived in Galilee, the people remembered the miracles He had

recently done in Jerusalem at the Passover (John 4:45). This comment does not fit with the three-

year ministry, because that places Jesus’ return to Galilee in the fall long after Jesus’ Passover

miracles. Although His disciples accompanied Jesus, by that time, they were apparently anxious

to get back to fishing or other work. This allowed Jesus to say later, you have not chosen Me, I

have chosen you, because these disciples had initially followed Jesus by their own choice.

Nazareth Jesus Returns Home (Saturday 14 April A.D. 31) {1-2}

This was not a Passover event. Jesus went west from Cana to Nazareth about ten miles

(16km) to the southwest. Nazareth and Cana were separated by Sepphoris the capital and largest

city of Galilee. There on the following day a Sabbath, the first day of the second month (Iyar)

Jesus announced that the Anointed One (Messiah, Christ) was present, He was also proclaiming

a year of the Lord’s favor (Luke 4:16-30).119

That day also fulfilled the prophesy of Daniel 9:25

“until the anointed one—the ruler comes…” This did not occur on Palm Sunday as many

suppose,120

because the anointed ruler came two years earlier. The people of His hometown

rejected Jesus and attempted to kill Him. Therefore, Jesus left Nazareth and moved to

Capernaum. A number of details come together to fix this date. It had to be a month starting with

a Sabbath. Finally, a disciple knew of the link to the second Passover as evidenced by the

mention of the second-first Sabbath. The start of the Sabbath year should have been delayed for

one month until this day. Jesus makes this announcement on the day that the Sabbath year was to

start, because the Jubilee year, which would start six months later, would be properly aligned to

follow, rather than precede, the start of autumn. The full moon preceded the fall equinox.

On that day, Jesus read the haftorah121

or last reading for fifth Sabbath of the Shmita122

cycle (Sabbath year, first Sabbath of the second month Iyar), the last portion of that reading was

the first few verses of Isaiah 61.123

The exact portion that Luke 4:16-21 records that Jesus read

‘as was His custom’. On that day, He said this passage was fulfilled. He announced the Messiah

119

This event marks the end of the 483 years of Daniel 9:27 from the proclamation made by

Artaxerxes to Nehemiah. The start year was 453 B.C. not 444 B.C. commonly stated, because

Ezra and Nehemiah had a different perspective on the reign of Artaxerxes. The year is not an

artificial 360 day period, because God says in Genesis 1:14 that the sun moon and stars are to

be for signs, seasons, days and years. Since the sun and stars control the year, the length of the

year is not a consistent number less than a solar year. 120

The Bible does not use a 360-day “prophetic” year; the sun and the stars, not the number of

days, control the length of the year. See Bruce Killian, “The Chronological Framework of

History”, 2007, www.scripturescholar.com/JubileeTimetable.pdf 121

The haftorah is a reading from the prophets that follows the Torah reading in the synagogue.

It was normal to read the haftorah in Hebrew and translate into Aramaic. 122

The seven-year agricultural cycle, but here divided into two 3.5-year parts. 123

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai, “Table of Prophetic Statements for the Regular Sabbaths in

half a Shmita Cycle of Torah Readings (One Triennial Torah Reading Cycles) Drash Cycle: In

the School of Hakham Matityahu” It would be the fifth Sabbath so the entry starting with

Psalm 5, www.betemunah.org/prophetic.html.

41

had come and was present in that synagogue.124

This reading has been eliminated from the

modern Torah cycle readings. This reading was done on a three and a half year cycle, and it was

completed twice in a Sabbath year cycle. Jesus was driven from His home at least in part so that

He did not have a home. It is only in the Septuagint that God’s Anointed would give sight to the

blind. This is important because that was one of the ways that Jesus was recognized as the

Anointed One the Christ (Isaiah 61:2 Septuagint).

Jesus near Capernaum (Passover -2 Fri 28 Apr to Sat May 5, A.D. 31)

Jesus near Capernaum (Day 1) Treasure (Passover -2 Fri 27 Apr A.D. 31) {13-2}

Jesus took nearly two weeks to move from Nazareth to Capernaum.125

To follow the

Bible references see Chronological Harmony.126

During those weeks, Jesus acquired followers

from as far away as Jerusalem, Judea, Decapolis, and beyond the Jordan. It would normally take

more than a week for a traveler to journey that far and to return (Matthew 4:25). It appears that

Jesus arrived in Capernaum just before the beginning of the Passover in the second month. This

makes sense; this was when Jesus’ public ministry as recorded in the gospels really started.

The passage from Matthew 4:13 to 12:8 occurred in the span of only 9 days (Friday 27

April to Saturday 5 May A.D. 31). If the gospel of Matthew is in sequential order and Luke 6:1

was the first Sabbath following Passover in the second month. The events of those days are

spread out over much of a year by most chronographers. The events of that period had a fixed

beginning (when Jesus moved to Capernaum) and end because Luke identified the final day of

that sequence as the “second first Sabbath,” (c.f. Luke 6:1 with Matthew 12:1). That means that

the sequence in this passage started just before the second Passover. This connection gives

additional meaning to the events of this period. A meaning that Matthew did not recognize or he

would have given some hint of it in his gospel.

The synoptic gospels give a lot of detail on Jesus teaching and activities during His first

week after moving to Capernaum. This makes sense because that was the time when Jesus’

public ministry really started. It is also a time when farmers would probably be finished with the

barley harvest and waiting for the wheat to ripen around Pentecost. Most people were farmers at

this time. Even slaves had plots of land to farm to provide food for themselves. Therefore, many

had a chance to seek out Jesus. Jesus called four disciples, Peter, Andrew, James and John,

probably on Friday {14-2} immediately after they caught two boatloads of fish (Luke 5 :1-11).

The fish were the treasure of this Passover event. With the Sabbath drawing near, the crowds

flocked to Capernaum to see this great prophet. Many also partook of the abundant catch.

Jesus near Capernaum (Day 2) Cleansing (Saturday 28 April A.D. 31)

The next morning, a Sabbath {15-2}, Jesus arrived early at the synagogue in Capernaum,

where He taught and drove out an unclean spirit (Mark 1:23). Soon a large crowd collected (too

124

Jesus is the Christ meaning anointed, when was Jesus anointed? I propose that He was

anointed four times, the first by the magi as king, second by the Holy Spirit as prophet, third

with oil by Mary of Bethany as High Priest and Temple and finally by the High Priest with his

own blood as High Priest and Temple. 125

Capernaum from the Hebrew Nahum means consolation, the consolation of Israel had arrived

in the city of consolation. 126

Bruce Killian, “Gospel Harmony Douay,” 2011,

www.scripturescholar.com/GospelHarmonyDouay.pdf

42

many to fit in the synagogue) so Jesus left and went north up on a nearby hillside sat down and

taught the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-7:29) (probably in Aramaic). He spoke with

authority not like the scribes because He repeatedly used the phrase, you have heard it said, …,

but I tell you127

…. Jesus then came down off the hill (Matthew 8:1) and headed back toward

Capernaum where He gave the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:17-7:1). (He probably taught that

sermon in Greek because three-quarters of the population of Galilee was gentile). Jesus

continued back to town, but before Jesus entered Capernaum, He cleansed a leper (Matthew 8:2-

4). As Jesus entered Capernaum, He healed a centurion’s slave (Matthew 8:5-13). Jesus then

went to Simon Peter’s house (where He always stayed while in Capernaum) and healed Simon’s

mother-in-law who fed them (Matthew 8:14-15). This meal was to be Jesus’ last for about three

days.

The first days of Jesus in Capernaum link to Passover, because they occurred around the

Passover in the second month. The period was framed between the start of the second month and

the Sabbath following the second month Passover the second-first Sabbath. Before Passover,

each Israelite was required to remove all leaven (chametz, yeast) from their house. Jesus

cleansed leaven (representing sin) from His house—the house of Israel in a number of different

ways. He called the people to repent, many did repent, and He forgave their sin. He corrected

important points in the error-ridden teaching of the Sadducees and Pharisees in the Sermon on

the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain.128

The necessity to remove leaven is why Jesus “spoke

clearly” and not in parables on that occasion. He further cleansed Israel of “unclean spirits” and

the “uncleanness” of leprosy, which represented sin. He led Israel from the heresy of believing

that all gentiles (e.g. Romans) were unclean. The miraculous catch of fish, met the requirement

that at the first Passover Israel was enriched (Exodus 3:22; 11:2; 12:35).129

A further

requirements before the Passover there was to be a sacred assembly (Exodus 12:16) that was met

at the Sermon on the Mount. Why did His disciples have to plead with Jesus to heal Simon’s

mother-in-law? (Luke 4:38) Jesus did not heal everyone except at His hour, which was soon to

arrive. It was necessary so that they could get something to eat before the crowds arrived.

Jesus near Capernaum (Day 3) Heal & Watch (Passover Sun 29 Apr A.D. 31) {16-2}

It appears that Jesus deferred the start of the second Passover one day to this day, so that

He would not be doing unnecessary healing on the Sabbath and so He could travel. The start of

Passover was regularly officially delayed one day. When the Sabbath ended, the people traveled

home and brought their sick to Jesus. The people waited for the Sabbath to end and then brought

their sick to Jesus. As the Sabbath ended and Passover in the second month started Saturday

evening, Jesus cast out many demons and healed all who were sick.130

The demons wanted to

identify Jesus as the Christ, but He would not allow them to speak (Luke 4:41). Jesus healed all

the people (similar to the Exodus there was no feeble Israelite Psalm 105:37), so all were

127

Jewish rabbi quote earlier teachers as their authority, they do not assert on their own

authority. To sit while teaching also indicated that Jesus was teaching with authority. 128

Jesus called the errors in the teaching of the Sadducees and Pharisees “leaven” (Matt 16:11). 129

This view could be further expanded if choosing disciples is viewed a Jesus picking Passover

lambs, because before Passover lambs were chosen. Simon’s mother-in-law waited on them

that meant fed them, because she had been sick and it was the Sabbath likely unleavened

bread, also some of the miraculous fish catch from two days earlier. 130

Matthew 8:16; Mark 1:32; Luke 4:40-41.

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healthy. The following morning, Jesus went and prayed a great while before day (Mark 1:35-38).

Jesus kept the vigil or watch of Passover. On Passover, all Israelites were required to keep a

watch or vigil (Exodus 12:42). Jesus got up very early (at midnight, or soon after everyone else

had gone to sleep), The watch was required to be kept whether or not one was able to celebrate

the Passover, but it was not required to be kept twice, but Jesus apparently did. The frequent

nights Jesus spent in prayer were linked not only to the normal Passover, but to the Passover in

the second month as well. In the morning He tried to set off to other towns in the area, but the

crowds cornered Him (by following Peter) so He sat in a boat taught them in parables until

evening. Then Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee by boat to the region of Gadara at the far side

(southern end). Jesus spoke to the people in parables (clarity was not critical because He had

cleaned out the leaven). Just before the end of the day of Passover, Jesus left the crowds behind

and suddenly departed by boat on a journey to Gadara. Every Passover Jesus left on a journey

often during the night over water.

Jesus near Capernaum (Day 4) (Passover + 1, Monday 30 April A.D. 31) {17-2}

The Passover links here are profound. On Passover, one must be ready to immediately

leave on a journey (Exodus 12:11) and on the original Passover, all Israelites left on a journey.

When evening had come, Jesus left the crowd (Mark 4:36). During the journey across the Sea of

Galilee at night to Gadara, Jesus fell asleep (because He kept watch the previous night) and a

sudden storm came up and waves washed over the boat, the disciples were terrified. All were

baptized by the waves, symbolic of death. This is the only time we are told Jesus was asleep,

which Jesus links to death.131

Jesus sleeping in the boat at sea links to Jesus dead in the tomb,

after His death on Passover.132

Jesus was awakened and He miraculously calmed the storm

showing the strong arm of the Lord. Because of the sudden storm and Jesus miraculously

calming the storm, this sea crossing was a miraculous sea crossing similar to Israel crossing the

Red Sea (Exodus 14). All Israel was baptized) (symbolic of death) into Moses at the Red Sea

crossing (1 Corinthians 10:2). This was a todah event for the disciples, their lives were in peril,

but spared.

On the other side in the region of Gadara, Jesus encountered, two demoniacs and He cast

out of them a legion of unclean spirits (Mark 5:2) into a herd of pigs.133

The two naked men

came from the tombs another symbol of death. Jesus defeated an enemy army; a legion of six

thousand demons by drowning them in the sea much as the Egyptian army of six hundred

chariots was defeated by drowning in the Red Sea. Gadara was about five miles from the coast of

the Sea of Galilee, so it took some time for the people of the city to reach Jesus. As the Egyptians

pled with Israel to leave Egypt (Exodus 12:33) so the people of Gadara pled with Jesus and his

disciples to leave their region. Therefore Jesus and His disciples got back into their boats and

they returned to Capernaum (Matthew 8:18-9:1). They returned (under the cover of darkness) to

131

Lazarus has fallen asleep, I am going to raise him (John 11:11-13). 132

This event links to Jonah sleeping in the hold of the ship and then dead in the belly of the

great fish. An event that Jesus links to His time in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40-41). 133

“A herd of pigs can find pasture on the hillside of the lake only between February and April.”

… “In the winter and spring the east wind (Arabic Sharkiveh) can be dangerous and often

results in sudden storms (cf. Mk 5:11).” Bargil Pixner, The Paths of the Messiah, Rainer

Reisner, Ed., Trans. Keith Myrick and Sam and Miriam Randall, Ignatius, San Francisco, 2010

(German 1991). p437.

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Capernaum where they ate and slept (Mark 2:1; Matthew 8:18-9:1). On the journey from the Red

Sea all Israel went without a new source of water for three days. It also appears that Jesus and

company fasted throughout this journey because they received no hospitality. So here, Jesus and

the disciples go without food until the third day a period of affliction. Cleansing the demoniacs

by eliminating unclean spirits and clearing out two thousand pigs are both acts of clearing leaven

from His house, Israel. Gadara was in the region of Gilead (Havvoth-Jair / Manasseh) a portion

of Israel beyond the river. Why did they go without food? Jesus told them when they went on a

missionary trip to take no food or money. They were dependent on the people to whom they

ministered. But one never knows when fasting will be necessary to cast out an unclean spirit or a

legion of them (Mark 9:29).

Jesus near Capernaum (Day 5) (Passover + 2, Tuesday 1 May A.D. 31) {18-2}

In the morning the crowds who waited for Jesus, surround Peter’s house. Jesus forgave the

sin of a paralytic lowered through the roof and then healed him allowing him to stand and walk.

Pharisees, some from Jerusalem, had arrived on the scene and got front row seating because they

were esteemed by the people. Because of the opposition by the Pharisees, Jesus promptly left by

boat and went to the nearby city of Bethsaida134

three miles (5km) east. As He arrived, He asked

Matthew who was sitting at his customs booth135

to follow Him and Matthew in turn invited

Jesus to have lunch at his house. There Jesus dined with publicans and sinners. Afterwards, Jesus

was questioned by several groups in quick succession, including the Pharisees who must have

followed on foot. During the question and answer session, Jairus arrived and requested that Jesus

heal/raise his daughter. Jesus went with him and on the way encountered a woman with a twelve-

year flow of blood, He healed her and then He raised Jairus’ twelve-year old daughter.

That was the third day of Passover the day the Resurrection occurred on and the day Israel

safely reached the far shore of the Red Sea. The crowds had waited for Jesus to return. A

paralytic who needed four men to carry him probably could not travel the seventy miles (110

km) to John the Baptist to be baptized and so have his sins forgiven.136

Forgiven of his sin and

healed symbolized the Resurrection from spiritual death that occurs in baptism. Because Jesus

called Matthew to be a disciple, he experienced a resurrection from tax collector (outcast sinner)

to chosen one. While at Matthew’s for lunch, Jesus as a doctor of souls, restored publicans and

sinners to a relationship with God, another type of resurrection. Before that day ended, Jesus first

talked about the church as patching old cloth (Judaism) with new cloth (Christianity) or new

wine requiring new wine skins, etc. The Church started the day of Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus

restored reproductive life to a young woman who could not bear children because she was

always unclean. Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter probably in the evening, a girl who died before she

could bear children. Both were very much resurrection events, fruitful life after death. All the

resurrections events were also leaven cleansing and todah events. Matthew probably lived in

134

Jesus lands near the ford of Jordan River at the north end of the Sea of Galilee 135

The logical location for this customs booth would be at the ford of the Jordan where it

emptied into the Sea of Galilee, because that would be the easiest transit point between Herod

Agrippa and Herod Philip’s territories. 136

Because of the difficulty of transporting a paralytic seventy or so miles (~110km) south to

John the Baptist to be baptized the whole seen pictures baptism without water, but Jesus was

the source of the Water of Life.

45

Bethsaida and Jairus in Chorazin. This was probably the time the parables from Luke 15 and 16

were delivered (the lost sheep, the prodigal son, Lazarus and the rich man).

Jesus near Capernaum (Days 6-8) Bethsaida and Chorazin {18 to 21-2}

On Passover Israel was required to eat bitter herbs, here understood with an expanded

meaning to endure a bitter or unpleasant event e.g. slavery in Egypt and the bitter waters of

Marah (Exodus 15:23) which occurred at the end of the week of unleavened bread following the

original Passover. Jesus endured several bitter events during that week; the crowd at Jairus’

house mocked Him. The Pharisees hindered Jesus’ ministry accusing Him of casting out demons

by the prince of demons. The Pharisees ire was raised when He forgave the sin of a paralytic.

They were further incensed when He ate with publicans and sinners (Pharisees were highly

respected by the people and were used to being deferred to) so they turned the people from Jesus

when they accused Him of doing His mighty miracles by the power of the prince of demons. It

appears that the influence of the Pharisees overcame the miracles Jesus did and the local

populace in general, rejected Jesus and His disciples. As the Passover week in the second month

ended, Jesus and His disciples experienced the bitterness of rejection in Bethsaida and Chorazin

where Jesus had raised the dead, healed the blind, and reconciled sinners to God, etc. so they

received no hospitality so they had to fend for themselves for food. So they lacked food for a

second time the same week (but they did not fast on the one day Israel fasted which caused

controversy). The period after the Passover was the start of the harvest, but Jesus got no harvest,

because no harvest was allowed during the Sabbath year. The two years that Jesus ministered

were a Sabbath year and Jubilee year that appeared to disallow a great harvest until after Jesus’

resurrection.

Jesus near Capernaum (Day 9) (Second-First Sabbath Sat 5 May A.D. 31) {22-2}

The next Sabbath was the second-first Sabbath five weeks after the weekly Sabbath

following Passover. Here we skip to Saturday to conclude one Passover event before starting

another. Since the disciples picked and ate grain, it was ripe, but not harvested. If that grain was

barley then it was an indication the Jews celebrated Nisan too early. If the wheat was ripe then

Pentecost was near and it was only about three weeks later. Can one interpret that the Jesus

announced the acceptable year of the Lord only three weeks earlier as a signal that He was

calling attention to the Jews being off by one month on when to start the year? Could the dating

of the events of Jesus ministry be off because the wrong month was celebrated? We find this

point in Jesus ministry by finding a month the Sabbath fell on the first day of the month Iyar

(second month) A.D. 31. The Sabbath year was announced by Jesus on the first day, which was

also Sabbath. The same circumstances occur in A.D. 28 for those who see the year A.D. 30 as

the year of the crucifixion. If this were the Jubilee year being announced ‘this day’ must be the

tenth of Tishri the seventh month (about October). Jesus would then have to leave Nazareth for

Jerusalem for the feast of Tabernacles (Sukkoth or Booths) not for Capernaum as He did (and

there is no alternate date for keeping the feast of Tabernacles). The first day of the year would be

very proper for announcing the Sabbath year. Jesus did not eat the grain on the second-first

Sabbath with His disciples because He was following a higher law. God’s plan for when the

grain should first be eaten was the next day. Second, the grain was ripe, this was four weeks after

the harvest was allowed to start but it would still be too early for the wheat harvest.

The second-first Sabbath, there is no reason to place this event nearly a year later. This

was still the start of Jesus ministry He announced three weeks earlier in Nazareth that He was the

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Messiah. He chose those who would accompany Him, and had just the previous day, designated

them apostles. Jesus continued to teach His disciples. The Sabbath following Passover was the

day the people could start to deal with their harvest. They were not able to travel to the next

town, because travel was restricted on the Sabbath day to a distance of about eight-tenths of a

mile (1.3km).

Jesus near Capernaum (Days 2 through 9) Unleavened Bread

This is a recap of the week of unleavened bread following the second Passover looking

for clues as to what Jesus ate at that time. Peter’s mother in law fed a group of disciples and

guests (Peter, mother-in-law, Andrew, Jesus, James, and John), so they possibly ate the last of

the leavened bread, just before the start of Passover. Further, because she had been sick, and it

was the Sabbath, and the extra three guests, there was probably no food left over, so their supply

of bread was cleaned out. Bread was baked daily, because it did not keep well (but there was lots

of fish from the recent catch of two boatloads of fish).

Passover started and Jesus ministered, but the crowds were so great that no one could

work—no opportunity to prepare more bread. At night, everyone went go to sleep except Jesus

who quietly went off to pray. Early in the morning Peter and crowd came looking for Jesus and

found Him, He did not return home, but started off for the next village, the crowds corner Him so

He taught from a boat at the seashore. Late in the afternoon—Jesus said, lets cross over to the

other side, so they did not returning home (and Jesus’ later instructions were don’t take anything

with you on your missionary trips). Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee without food, they received

no hospitality in Gadara and left there and returned to Capernaum at night without getting any

additional food until that point. If they ate anything, it is unleavened because they are tired and

hungry. In the morning again crowds prevented movement, no one could prepare food. Jesus

forgave the paralytic and left again on a missionary journey without supplies. Jesus never stayed

where Pharisees were attacking Him. After He called Matthew—they were hungry and so were

invited to lunch and they had a feast so rather than bread they ate meat, fish, fruit, wine, etc.

There was the possibility that Matthew’s house was cleared of leaven while the guests were

forgiven. Immediately following the meal Jesus was quizzed about why His disciples were not

fasting, but while He was speaking Jairus asked Jesus to heal/raise his daughter. It appears that

they did not receive hospitality from Bethsaida (except from Matthew) or Chorazin in spite of

the miracles He did like raising the dead, curing two blind men, and driving out demons.

Because of the influence of the Pharisees, Jesus and company were rejected and they find that

they are fending for themselves. So on the Sabbath a day one was not supposed to fast, His

disciples were eating grain directly from the fields with only minimal preparation so certainly

unleavened. It appears that Jesus passed the entire week mostly fasting, and never apparently

eating any unleavened bread.

The Second Solar Passover (Friday 4 to 17 May A.D. 31) {21-2}

The solar Passover occurred five days after the official lunar-solar Passover. Here Jesus

kept the solar Passover in the second month.

Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles (Friday 4 May A.D. 31)

This event overlaps the previous event by two days. Jesus spent the whole night in

prayer, and then in the morning selected His twelve apostles (Luke 6:1-5). Jesus kept the

Passover watch all night. This second solar Passover event lasted two weeks. After Jesus selected

His apostles, Jesus taught the parable of the sower. This parable really spoke on how one could

47

have treasure in heaven. The special meal of that solar Passover event was eating grain directly

in the field. Jesus compared the event to David and his companions eating the bread of the

presence. Jesus was alluding to His newly chosen apostles being priests. Was the grain they were

eating being consecrated by Jesus? Plain grain was always unleavened.

A week later, on the following Sabbath (12 May A.D. 31) {25-2}, Jesus healed a man

with a withered hand. Some of the Pharisees, jealous of Jesus, designated healing as work and

sought to kill Jesus as a lawbreaker. The Pharisees sat in Moses’ seat so one was obliged to do

what they said (Matthew 23:2), but Jesus was the new Moses (a higher authority)(Deuteronomy

18:15). This angered the Pharisees because Jesus was again ‘breaking the Sabbath’. But there

was little they could do when the work involved only the words, “Stretch out your hand.” Jesus

was revealing His mighty arm. Although Jesus had only been ministering publicly for a little

over a month, He had already made enemies who wanted to kill Him. Jesus chose His

disciples—not sometime after a year of ministry, but about a month after He first publicly

appeared at Passover. Rather than argue, Jesus fled from those Pharisees. Still, the Pharisees

sought to destroy Him. The crowds followed and Jesus healed all (Matthew 12:15), but with the

command not to make Jesus known—self-denial (Matthew 12:16).

Jesus healed a blind dumb demoniac (Matthew 12:22) something no prophet had ever

done. So the people asked the question, “Is this not the Son of David” (Matthew 12:23)? The

Pharisees take their attack up a notch and accuse Jesus of using the prince of demons. “He casts

out by Beelzebub” (Matthew 12:24). Jesus was constantly contending with hard hearts, much as

Moses contended with Pharaoh’s hard heart. That blasphemy apparently convinced many. Jesus

remained to clean leaven from this blasphemous concept (Matthew 12:25-33). This was a bitter

experience and Jesus called them a generation of vipers (Matthew 12:34).

There was no treasure event here, but Jesus talked about good bringing out good

treasure—evil bringing out evil treasure (Matthew 12:35). Jesus predicted His death and

resurrection, the sign of Jonah (Matthew 12:40) for as Jonah was dead in the great fish, so Jesus

was dead in the heart of the earth. So Jesus would be buried, then not buried implying something

unusual.

Jesus’ mother and brethren137

come to the Sea of Galilee to find Jesus. His mother and

brethren arrived and asked to see Him (Matthew 12:46). Jesus appeared to ignore them. He had

appointments to keep in Nain and Jerusalem. On that same day, He taught the Parable of the

sower (Matthew 13:1). The order of the events in Mark gives real life examples of how the sower

and seed parable show up in real life.138

The Death of Joseph (Sunday 13 May A.D. 31)

The Scripture strongly hints that Jesus’ stepfather Joseph was near death. That was what

prompted Mary and Jesus’ brethren who apparently left Nazareth Sunday morning to come to

137

Brethren—throughout this article the term refers to Jesus’ cousins. They are most likely the

children of Joseph’s younger brother Cleopas and his wife Mary. They lived in close proximity

to Jesus in Nazareth. The number includes at least James, Joses, Simon, Jude and their sisters. 138

Bruce Alan Killian, “Link between the Parable of the soils and the events that follow in the

gospel of Mark,” 2006, www.scripturescholar.com/SoilTypes.pdf. The seed on the path was like

the Gadarene demoniac, the seed on rocky soil like the Jairus’ daughter who died at age 12, the

seed among thorns like the woman who hemorrhaged blood and the seed on good soil had two

example Jesus in Nazareth who produced little, and the disciples who were able to reap a harvest.

48

Capernaum and seek out Jesus. The reason Jesus did not speak to them was that the Father

instructed Him not to, because Joseph had to die before Jesus would have a clear title as King of

Israel. Joseph had to die at a time when both Mary and Jesus were away from Joseph, far enough

away that he would be buried before they returned so that they would not come in contact with

him or he would have been raised from the dead to preserve their holiness. He had to be in the

tomb before either Jesus or Mary returned to Nazareth. While His father Joseph lived, the title

king of Israel rightly belonged to him. We know Joseph was dead at the crucifixion because

Jesus gave His mother Mary to His first cousin the apostle John and He would not have done that

while Joseph lived or if Mary had other children. Because Jesus lived and worked with Joseph,

he could not die while Jesus was at home or under the law, the dead body of Joseph would have

defiled Jesus’ holiness (Numbers 19:14). This was also true of Mary. Therefore, after Jesus had

moved out and Joseph had a chance to rejoice in the ministry of Jesus, then Joseph got sick, and

while Mary sought out Jesus to help him, Joseph died. We understand that it was the Father’s

will for Joseph die, because we know that Mary always did the Father’s will, but here she wanted

to ask Jesus to do something that was not the Father’s will. Jesus, in His reply indicated that it

was not, “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother

(Matthew 12:50). Before either Mary or Jesus returned to Nazareth, Joseph was buried (Jews

buried their dead on the same day they died). Because it would take Mary most of a day to return

from the Sea of Galilee, he probably died on Sunday 13 May A.D. 31 same the day Mary tried

unsuccessfully to speak to Jesus.139

If Joseph died at home, Mary did not reenter her home until

it had been cleansed with the water of cleansing (Numbers 19. Mary understood it was the

Father’s will for Joseph to die at this time because she did not continue to try to talk to Jesus.

Then Jesus left for Jerusalem for Pentecost. He passed through Nain on the way—the

next day. After Pentecost, Jesus did return to Nazareth in an apparent response to His mother and

brethren unspoken request. It could be that Jesus was specifically giving a witness to the

believers of Nazareth who His family had appealed to Him about, because Nain was not on the

most likely route from the Sea of Galilee to Jerusalem, but rather on a route, someone from

Nazareth to the Jerusalem might take. By raising the dead in their presence, their faith in Him

might have been considerably strengthened.

Son in Nain Raised (Tuesday 15 May A.D. 31) {3-3}

Two days later (early on the second day of travel with pilgrims after about thirty miles),

while on the way to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of Weeks, Jesus raised the son of the widow

of Nain (Luke 7:11-17). There seems to be a link between ‘three’ and resurrection, that day was

the third day of the week, the third day of the third month. Jesus was thirty at that time and He

raised three people during His ministry. It appears that Lazarus was raised in similar

circumstances according to the Roman calendar. If one were to speculate on the time, one might

say the third Jewish hour, or 9AM. This was the todah instance of this Passover event. A large

crowd accompanied Jesus; they were all on their way to Jerusalem for Pentecost. They continued

on and the report of this healing spread all over Judea (because that is where they were headed)

not Galilee, because that was where they were leaving. It could be that at this time of year, the

pilgrims did not take the Jordan Valley because of the almost unbearable climate.140

139

Mary gave special honor to May 13 when she appeared on Sunday May 13, A.D. 1917 at

Lourdes, when she appeared on this day and the 13 of the following five months. 140

Pixner, Paths of the Messiah, p 438.

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To Jerusalem for Pentecost (Sunday 20 May A.D. 31) {Pentecost 8-3}

This was not a Passover event. The unidentified feast of the Jews of John 5:1-47 usually

identified as an additional Passover, was the feast of Pentecost (also called Weeks or Shavuot).

Pentecost was a feast never identified in the gospels (it does appear in Acts), although all other

suggested major feasts are identified in the gospels by name. While Jesus was in Jerusalem for

the feast, Jesus was questioned by the disciples of John the Baptist. When John the Baptist

publicly identified Jesus as the Lamb of God, his ministry was over (John 5:33-35), except to a

few disciples who sought him out in prison. Pointing out Jesus as the Lamb of God was saying

go follow Him. He did not continue to baptize at the Jordan River for another six months. He

was put into prison and within a year was beheaded, a month before the following Passover.

There is another indication of the shortness of the ministry of John the Baptist after Jesus

appeared on the scene. Nearly a year later, when Jesus asked His disciples at Caesarea Philippi

who do the people say I am, their reply was, some say you are John the Baptist—this statement

makes it clear the people did not see the ministries of John and Jesus as occurring side by side

(Matthew 16:14; Mark 8:28; Luke 9:19). Tetrarch Herod thought that Jesus was John, raised

from the dead (Mark 6:14-16). Herod had not been paying attention to the religious revival going

on in his territory.

Here is a very weak Passover event, it should be Passover in the second month, but the

official Passover stated a month early so this event is officially beyond the limit, but technically

within the limit of Passover. Jesus near the end of the feast of Pentecost, on the Sabbath (26 May

A.D. 31) {14-3}, healed a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. Why did Jesus not

heal everyone waiting at the pool of Bethzatha? It was not His hour! The Jews were now openly

out to kill Jesus. From that point on, Jesus could not enter Judea publicly without risking His life.

Jesus spent little time in Judea because of that threat. When He went into Judea, it was usually

brief and in secret.

Jesus Returns to His Home Town of Nazareth (c. Saturday 2 June A.D. 31)

This continues the weak Passover event. After waiting about three weeks (from when His

mother and brethren came to visit), Jesus apparently then answered the request of Jesus’ mother

and His relatives brought because He did not leave directly for Nazareth but rather came to that

city after the trip to Jerusalem for Pentecost and his return. Because it was a weak Passover

event, Jesus did not heal everyone. The date assumes Jesus returns directly to Nazareth and the

earliest possible Sabbath was Saturday 2 June A.D. 31. We were told Jesus was not able to do

many miracles there (implying He did do some). He then preached in the Synagogue, but His

message was not received. This was a probably a town who took their religion seriously, and

they wanted the old wine of Judaism, not the new wine of the kingdom of heaven that Jesus was

offering. They were too steeped in Judaism to be ready to accept Jesus fulfilling their Scriptures

leading directly to Christianity. The people of Nazareth were no longer trying to kill Jesus.

Possibly they thought, if Jesus did not come to save His father what good is He to us? There was

no mention of casting out demons in Nazareth, so close proximity of demons to Jesus before His

public ministry did not happen.

Jesus Sent Out His Disciples (Undated June A.D. 31 to March A.D. 32)

This was not a Passover event. After this point, there was a gap in the description of

Jesus’ ministry for about nine months in all four gospels. Jesus did private teaching of His

apostles and closest disciples. During this period, He trained His apostles and then sent them out

two by two to minister to the towns of Israel. The joy the disciples expressed when they rejoined

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Jesus was an indication that this was their most fruitful mission trip to this point. This was a time

of divided ministry, Jesus and His apostles were spread out. The disciples had the authority to

cast out demons, heal every disease and raise the dead so there was less need for people to seek

out Jesus especially since He only taught in parables and it was unlikely that the apostles taught

exclusively in parables. Because the apostles preached repentance, they cleansed the towns,

before Jesus arrived. It was likely the teaching was much the same but to smaller groups. Since

this period is not well documented in the gospels, this is an indication that Jesus’ ministry was

primarily hidden and therefore primarily a ministry to His closest disciples throughout much of

the year. Other reasons for less documentation, the weather may have limited the crowd size,

most people tended their crops. The novelty was wearing off. The most disabled among them

had been healed, so no nearby believers with a serious health issue. The Pharisees had convinced

many that Jesus was evil rather than good. Since Jesus had left suddenly so often, they stopped

actively seeking Him. When the people did catch up to Jesus and hear Him, He regularly got up

and left, often in a boat so that the people could not follow.

JESUS’ SECOND YEAR OF MINISTRY A CHRONOLOGICAL NARRATIVE The Death of John the Baptist (Adar Passover 15 Adar II, Sunday 16 March A.D. 32)

The death of John the Baptist was an Adar Passover event. Herod’s birthday party was a

supper, a formal meal normally taken in the evening. The treasure of this event was John’s head

valued at half a kingdom. The bitter herbs of this event was the great distress that Herod felt

(Mark 6:26). The dinner party was the opposite of a sacred assembly. Haste was evident in that

Salome immediately went to Herodias who immediately answered and Salome immediately went

back to Herod Antipas who immediately sent an executioner so leaving during or immediately

after the evening supper, the executioner probably traveled at night (Mark 6:27) and probably

had to travel many days to get to John. The burial event of this event was John the Baptist’s body

buried by his disciples. Herod supposed there was a todah event, so that John was raised, but he

was not raised. John experienced affliction because he was in prison. John (righteous and holy

(Mark 6:20)) was the unleavened portion removed from Herod’s thoroughly leavened household.

The question of this event, Salome asked Herodias, What shall I ask for? The soldier journeyed

from Galilee to the Dead Sea fortress prison Machaerus. The journey would cross the Jordan

River because Machaerus141

on eastern coast of Dead Sea. Herod had two palaces in Galilee one

in Sepphoris and the other in Tiberias, About four day journey from Tiberius to Machaerus each

way. It was about five-day journey from Sepphoris to Machaerus each way. So the trip would

take about nine days (shorter if by chariot or horseback). Offering selected was the friend of the

bridegroom, John the Baptist. This all happened one month before the Passover. Moses died just

over one month before the Passover, thirty days before Israel entered the Promised Land

(Deuteronomy 34:8).

Spring AD 32 Feeding 5000, 4000, the Transfiguration and Trans-Jordan Judah

About two weeks later at the beginning of the next year at the beginning of April, Jesus

and His disciples regrouped in Capernaum at which time Jesus went into the wilderness and fed

the five thousand men. The assumption is that Jesus told His apostles to gather in Capernaum at

the beginning of the year that was at the new moon of Nisan.

141

Josephus said John the Baptist was imprisoned and died at the fortress Machaerus or

Macherus. Josephus “Antiquities of the Jews” 18, 5, 2.

51

These four events are linked in that they refer to a quick series of various Passover events

in the first month of the year. The Passover sequence, allows these events to be dated. The

feeding of the five thousand occurred on the solar Passover. The feeding of the four thousand

occurred one week later in the second week of the solar Passover. The Transfiguration occurred

during the week of the official lunar-solar Passover. The events in Transjordan Judea occurred

on the solar Passover in the second month. Then Jesus journeyed to Jerusalem for the official

lunar-solar Passover in the second month. These events will be parsed out in the following

sections.

The Church Hidden in the Gospels: There was always some expansion of His teaching

about the Church (the kingdom) on these occasions. This links the whole assembly of the

congregation of Israel (Exodus 12:7) the Kahal (assembly) was often translated ecclesia (church)

in the Septuagint. There will be a section linking many of the references to the Church just

before the conclusion to this article.

Feeding Five Thousand (Tuesday 1 to 6 April 32)

Feeding Five Thousand (Day 1 Eve of Solar Passover) (Tuesday 1 April 32)

In the year A.D. 32, the solar Passover occurred twelve days before the official lunar-

solar Passover. Of all the Passover events, this event stands at a time closest to the day of the

year and to the time of the Last Supper. The feeding of the five thousand occurred exactly one

solar year before the Last Supper. The disciples who had been ministering from town to town in

Galilee gathered in anticipation of journeying to Jerusalem with the crowds for the celebration of

the official Passover. It is likely the apostles and the people thought that the liberation of Israel

from Rome was at hand and Jesus would establish an earthly kingdom.

The Passover event started as Jesus’ disciples returned and told of the miracles that had

been done through them—(they raised the dead, cleansed lepers, and drove out evil spirits, etc.)

so Jesus’ disciples helped to cleanse the leaven from Jesus’ house. On the day they gathered,

Jesus learned of John the Baptist’s death as news that was circulated though the crowd, a bitter

experience. Depending on where they came from in Galilee, this may have been their third day

of travel. The crowds gathered in anticipation of traveling to Jerusalem for Passover.

Because of the sad news of the execution of John the Baptist (Matthew 10:1, 8), Jesus

attempted to go off and be alone with His disciples. First, they went to the wilderness of

Bethsaida fording the Jordan River to escape the crowds. The crowds who followed all were

washed in the Jordan. Then they got into Peter’s boat and they crossed the Sea of Galilee to the

wilderness on the southwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee near the city of Tiberius (and called

the Sea of Tiberius). But still the crowds followed and preceded Jesus to His destination, but by

now it was fairly late in the day. So Jesus healed all the sick (Matthew 14:14), so everyone was

healthy as at the first Passover. Passover was at hand (John 6:4), this has two senses, the solar

Passover would start at sundown, but it was also time to start the journey to Jerusalem for the

official Passover.

Feeding Five Thousand (Day 2 Solar Passover) (Wednesday 2 April A.D. 32) {3-1}

The Solar Passover always began Tuesday evening. Jesus asked the apostle Philip to give

them bread (Philip was “cost conscious”) and he said two hundred denarii142

would not give each

142

Two hundred denarii was two hundred days wage for a day laborer. That is about $20,000.

52

a little (John 6:7). So the creation of the bread in the wilderness was a treasure, something of

great value. The five thousand were a sacred assembly one might anticipate a great harvest of

people. That bread appears to have been unleavened because leavened barley bread was hard and

would not keep well especially when broken into pieces, so there would be little need to collect

twelve baskets of stale bread. Pieces of unleavened bread remain edible. Then Jesus had the

crowds separate into groups (so they could be easily counted) (Matthew 14:19).143

Then Jesus

had the people recline144

as required on Passover.145

Each group was able to share and discuss

things as a group. Then He multiplied the bread and fish—the creation of wealth in the bread and

fish must be over one thousand denarii because each had their fill not only with bread, but also

fish (Matthew 14:21). It is interesting that if we find Jesus serving a meal, it is always on the

solar Passover. Jesus sent the disciples off on a journey by boat back to Capernaum146

—although

their destination ends at Gennesaret (Matthew 14:24).147

This was the second day of the lunar

month, so there was very little moon light, so when night fell, everyone went to sleep.

Then Jesus went up on the mountain, prayed, and kept the Passover vigil. (Matthew

14:23). In the fourth watch of the night before the approach of dawn, Jesus made a miraculous

journey walking on the stormy sea.148

Peter also walked on the sea (Matthew 14:26, 29) and all

the disciples suddenly arrived at their new destination the plain of Gennesaret. When they

landed, crowds quickly gathered so morning had broken and all who touched the fringe of Jesus’

garment were healed (Matthew 14:26). These were probably also pilgrims gathering for the trip

to Jerusalem. Jesus further cleansed people of the Pharisees’ bad teaching about the oral law and

unclean hands (Matthew 15:20) but He did it in parables it was no longer the eve of Passover.

Feeding Five Thousand (Day 3 Solar Passover +1) (Thursday 3 April A.D. 32) {4-1}

The Bread of Life Discourse

Since Jesus and His disciples spent a night and day awake, they slept that night. The next

morning the day after Passover the third day, Jesus traveled a few miles to Capernaum and

finally arrived at their destination (on the third day) and there Jesus discoursed on the Bread of

Life in the synagogue (John 6:25-71). In that message, Jesus made assertions that were abhorrent

to many of those listening to Him. Jesus told His disciples you must eat My Body and drink My

Blood. This harkens back to the statement Moses made to Pharaoh that the sacrifices Israel

would make would be abhorrent and if the Egyptians heard about them they would stone the

Israelites (Exodus 8:26). This message was rejected by a majority of Jesus’ disciples (John 6:66)

143

One wonders whether there was a rule regarding the maximum size group for the Passover

because of the separating into groups, or was it only to make it easy to count the people or

both. 144

This is hidden in translations that translate anaklino as sit rather than recline or lie back.

There is also strong hint of Psalm 23 because the people are being fed while lying down on

green grass near the still waters of the Sea of Galilee. 145

Reclining, Afikomen, four cups of wine, lamb only no kid, etc. by Jesus’ day, the rules for

Passover had been refined and enhanced. 146

If they started in the wilderness of Bethsaida, then they would have bypassed their

destination. This is an argument that the 5000 were not fed in the wilderness of Bethsaida. 147

God used the weather to direct Jesus and the apostles on where to go to minister. 148

Strong east winds occur during the winter and spring. Bargil Pixner, The Paths of the

Messiah, p. 437

53

a bitter experience. Secondly, this speech occurred half way through a Jubilee year, during a

Jubilee year produce could be collected in the fields and eaten, but it could not be harvested into

one’s barns. As these disciples were a type of the harvest, Jesus could gather disciples, a few at a

time, but could not reap a harvest. The Jubilee year ended and the first allowed day for a harvest,

the First Fruits was the day following the Sabbath after Passover, Easter the day of the

Resurrection. It appears that this event happened on the third day of Passover so there is also a

Todah or resurrection theme. Since Jesus’ Body and Blood are necessary for life, Jesus was

telegraphing what would occur as the Last Supper and the crucifixion. See the section on the

Resurrection for more details on this. A journey, healing everyone, a feast, a treasure, a watch, a

bitter event, a sacrifice that was abhorrent, a harvest not yet permitted, and another journey and

the promised source of life, all combine to make this a Passover event.

Jesus turned the crowds away from following Him by telling them they must eat His

Flesh and drink His Blood. Many in the crowds refused this teaching and turned away and even

the apostles had difficulty with this teaching. Jesus gave that talk to His disciples, but not the

Pharisees. By timing His pilgrimage to Jerusalem to the second Passover six weeks later, He

reduced His risk of losing His life a year early, the second Passover was Wednesday and He had

only a short period to wait in Jerusalem before the feast of Pentecost.

Other events appear to be abhorrent sacrifices for instance at the Exodus, the death of the

firstborn, the death of Pharaoh and his charioteers; after the magi, the death of the boys in

Bethlehem. Likely, the death of the Galileans, that Pilate mixed their blood with their sacrifices

(Luke 13:1). Other abhorrent sacrifices include the death of John the Baptist just before this and

finally the death of the only Son of God on the cross, the most abhorrent of all sacrifices.

The faithful Jews at that time left for Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. They appear to

have to arrive early in Jerusalem to be purified on the third and seventh day so that they could

celebrate the Passover and purchase their lambs five days before the feast. The Pharisees bind (as

in bind and loose) heavy burdens that are hard to bear, like arriving so early for Passover to be

cleansed so that the celebration took an additional week out of their year (unless one lived near

Jerusalem).

Feeding Five Thousand (Days 4-6) Preparing to Feed the 4000

Jesus did not go to Jerusalem, He went in a completely different direction. Jesus spent the

rest of Thursday and Friday on His journey to Tyre (Matthew 15:21-28). They arrived late Friday

afternoon and left on Sunday morning. Probably on Sunday morning (the solar Passover day of

First Fruits), Jesus healed the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman, the report of that healing

quickly spread and caused those gentiles in need of healing or who were spiritually inclined, to

seek and follow Jesus. That vocal pestering woman meant everyone knew who and where Jesus

was (much as Paul and Silas were pestered in Philippi Acts 16:17). Jesus wanted rest, but the

humble faith exhibited by that woman led directly to extending the solar Passover a second

week. A crowd of gentiles would be prepared for harvest (but not harvested).

Moses told Pharaoh, Israel needed to go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to

offer sacrifice. This event stands in the closest relationship to the resurrection. On the Sunday

following the first Sabbath following the solar Passover it would be the day of the First Fruits,

like the resurrection that will follow one year later.

Recap Eating Unleavened Bread during the Week of Feeding Five Thousand

54

The gospels do not say the bread Jesus multiplied for the five thousand was unleavened.

However, the symbolism would seem to require that the bread be unleavened.

1. Leavened bread needs to be baked fresh daily, or it would go stale or moldy or both. Give

us this day our daily bread (Luke 11:2).

2. Manna was never leavened because the Israelites could never keep any of it long enough

to leaven the bread. To leaven bread one needed some leavened bread to mix with the

unleavened bread—the leavened bread could not be kept, so they had no leavened bread

the entire forty years in the wilderness.

3. Since they collected the bread after the feeding of the five thousand, and there was so

much bread the purpose was so that it would not go to waste. For twelve backpack-sized

baskets of bread to be used, it needed to be able to keep for more than one or two days or

the disciples could not use it. They were traveling for all but the Sabbath the next seven

days, so they did not have the normal opportunity for hospitality at a location where they

ministered and taught at, so they ate that bread while they were traveling.

4. Barley bread was multiplied two weeks before the barley harvest was allowed to start so

it was bread from the previous harvest.

5. Old ‘leavened’ barley bread is as hard as a rock and is not pleasant to eat.

Feeding the Four Thousand (Sunday 6 to 11 April 32)

Feeding Four Thousand (Day 1 and 2 Sunday and Monday 6-7 April A.D. 32)

It could be that the faith displayed by the Syrophoenician woman empowered Jesus’

ministry and caused Him to extend the Passover a second week. More likely Jesus had a divine

appointment with that woman to prepare more than four thousand souls for the kingdom. That

woman discovered and hounded Jesus probably on the Sabbath separating the two Passover

events. Jesus left Galilee while the faithful Israelites went to Jerusalem for Passover (Jesus

ministered to seekers not to everyone, He was not interested in ministering to Jews who did not

faithfully keep the Passover).

Jesus spent most of the next three days returning the way He came, He first journeyed

north from Tyre to Sidon then to the southeast into the wilderness of the Decapolis, over fifty

miles (80 km). To get there all would have to ford the Jordan River at Bethsaida and so be

baptized (at least washed). Jesus took a three-day journey into the wilderness as Moses attempted

to do to worship God. One can tell the day of the week the event occurred on, because they

traveled for three days and had a three day return journey, so He fed them on Tuesday evening.

Feeding Four Thousand (Day 3 Eve Solar Passover Week 2) (Tue 8 April A.D. 32)

Here there appears to be a small problem, two solar Passover week events back to back.

The solution was that the Passover week was extended a second week much as all the people

agreed to extend the Passover in the days of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 30:23). While the previous

crowd were Jews, this crowd was composed all or largely of gentiles (they glorified the God of

Israel Matthew 15:31). This crowd had followed Jesus and grown in size since they left Tyre.

Some of the people had followed Jesus for three days into the wilderness. By that time, most

observant Galilean Jews would be on the journey to Jerusalem for the official lunar-solar

Passover. Persistence is one aspect of faith; Jesus was developing that aspect by allowing the

crowds tofollow Him on a long journey in order to be healed.

On Tuesday afternoon, Jesus healed the crowds (Matthew 15:29-39). Jesus then fed the

crowds because some had a long journey to return (fifty miles (80 km) back). The value of the

55

food was implied because of the value of the food for the five thousand. Jesus promptly left the

crowds on a new journey crossing the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 15:39). Jesus was always

preparing crowds to believe, but would leave without closing the deal. The harvest could not yet

be reaped. Because this event was similar to the feeding of the five thousand and close in time,

the recorded accounts were abbreviated leaving out some Passover link details. The four

thousand in the wilderness were a sacred assembly. Jesus and the apostles kept watch as they

crossed the Sea of Galilee at night after the feast.

It is interesting to note that the Passover could not be celebrated by any uncircumcised

male and no foreigner was allowed to partake of it (Exodus 12:43, 48). It is also interesting to

note that a great part of those who celebrated the Passover in 2 Chronicles 30:18 had not been

sanctified. Hezekiah prayed that the LORD would show mercy on those not sanctified. Many

non-Israelites accompanied Israel at the Exodus, a mixed multitude without number (Exodus

12:38). Clearly, Jesus was demonstrating to His disciples that the kingdom He was talking about

would go beyond the limits that the Torah established. To get to the wilderness of the Decapolis,

they would have had to ford the Jordan River near Bethsaida. They were baptized at that time,

maybe not with the correct formula, but certainly a washing. If all Israel was baptized crossing

the Red Sea dry shod, then those gentiles were more so crossing the Jordan wet shod when the

Jordan was at flood stage. This event informed Peter for dealing with Cornelius and company

(Acts 11) and the necessity of being circumcised and to keep the Law (Acts 15).

Feeding Four Thousand (Days 4-6 Wednesday through Friday 9-11 April A.D. 32)

The next day Jesus encountered Pharisees who wanted a sign (Matthew 16:1-12).149

There was always an official opponent, who hardened their hearts, hindered and embittered

Jesus’ ministry at these times. Much the same as Pharaoh hardened his heart, hindered and

embittered Moses’ ministry in Egypt.

The apostles did not take the bread from the feeding of the four thousand with them

(because they discussed having no bread (Matthew 16:7), so that bread probably went with the

crowds that were returning to Tyre and Sidon. This may be an indication that bread was

leavened. Each of the seven baskets was large enough for a person to fit inside. Because the

baskets are different from the ones used after feeding the four thousands they probably belonged

to some of the gentiles, so Jesus provided some food for their return journey.

A blind man was healed (Mark 8:22-26), healing the blind was a sign the Messiah would

do so these healings should have been a sign to the Pharisees (Isaiah 42:7, 62:21-2 (Septuagint)),

but they did not soften their hearts and realize that. Because of the opposition of the Pharisees,

Jesus continued on His journey, they got back in the boat and crossed the Sea that time to

Bethsaida where they journeyed by foot up the Jordan River to Caesarea Philippi. This Passover

motif where Jesus did something extraordinary and then promptly left the crowds behind must

have frustrated many. The flip side Jesus always kept everyone wanting more, no one got bored.

Caesarea Philippi and the Transfiguration (Monday 14 to 21 April A.D. 32)

Jesus at Caesarea Philippi (Normal Passover Day, Monday 14 April A.D. 32) {15-1}

Caesarea Philippi was a town about twenty-five miles (40km) north of Bethsaida up the

Jordan River valley near the base of Mount Hermon. They probably arrived Thursday evening.

149

The only reason the Pharisees had to be in Galilee at this time rather than being on their way

to Jerusalem for Passover was to attack Jesus.

56

Alone with the crowds gone, Jesus finally got a few days of rest. Jesus chose that site specifically

for what He would say to Peter here. This was the site of the largest rock formation in the area

and it contained what was believed to be an entrance to Hades. Jesus was on the Passover

praying alone (presumably He kept a watch) then He asked His disciples, “Who do the people

say the Son of man is?” The question was asked Sunday night or Monday morning on the official

Passover. The week started with Jesus’ question in Caesarea Philippi and ended with the

Transfiguration. There is some additional documentation on this period of Jesus’ ministry in the

article “The Time and Place of the Transfiguration.”150

Jesus skipped going to Jerusalem at

Passover in the middle of His ministry at the normal time instead He headed to Caesarea Philippi

where on Passover, Saint Peter identifies Jesus as the Messiah and Jesus started to talk about His

death. The “get behind Me Satan,” was a statement cleansing leaven from Peter’s understanding

of what the Christ was to do. The obvious reason Jesus did not go to Jerusalem at this time was

that His death would be precipitated a year early. For a day-by-day review of the events of this

early period and why the Transfiguration occurred on Mount Nebo/Pisgah, see Easter

Transfiguration.151

Jesus and His disciples also apparently prayed a watch there on the mountain

because the disciples were heavy with sleep on the mount of Transfiguration. That watch would

be on the wrong day for the watch of Passover. The treasure was the keys to the kingdom of

heaven. The offering was selected when Peter said you are the Christ (revealed by the Father) so

the Father’s selection. Jesus established Peter as His prime minister (Isaiah 22:22). A cleansing

also happened when Jesus said beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. The assembly was Jesus

and His disciples. The journey seems to be two, three-day journeys, back-to-back to get to Mt.

Nebo. The bitter event was from that time Jesus began to announce that He must suffer. It was

also announced that anyone who would follow Jesus must pick up his cross. Their ministry was

filled with self-denial and affliction.

Transfiguration First Fruits (Sunday 20 April A.D. 32) {21-1}

The Bible says, after six (or about eight days) later, He was Transfigured.152

He then

journeyed one hundred and five miles (170km) south to Mt. Nebo where He was transfigured on

the official day of First Fruits, which we would call Easter Sunday, the day after the Sabbath

following Passover. Peter, James and John153

were baptized in the cloud on the mountain. Those

disciples worshipped when they fell on their faces in awe. When they came down from that

mountain, they encountered the Galilean pilgrims returning from Passover in Jerusalem. There

was a hint the group afflicted themselves, because after Jesus came down from the mountain of

Transfiguration He was told of an evil spirit the disciples who were left behind could not cast

out. Jesus said when casting out the demon, this kind can come out only with prayer and fasting,

150

Bruce Killian, “The Time and Place of the Transfiguration,” 2002,

www.scripturescholar.com/EasterTransfiguration.pdf. 151

Bruce Killian, “The Time and Place of the Transfiguration,” 2002,

www.scripturescholar.com/EasterTransfiguration.pdf. Both Moses and Elijah (by inference)

left this world from Mt. Pisgah so it would have been natural for Jesus to go to that mountain. 152

Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36. 153

Why only these three apostles accompanied Jesus? Three is a number of witness (with two)

and James was the first apostles to die, John was the last apostle to die and Peter was to be the

leader of the Church.

57

indicating that He had fasted and prayed.154

At the Passover, one was required to make a journey

to the presence of God.155

Since the ark and the Shekinah were the evidence of the presence of

God at the Temple, a second reason Jesus journeyed to that mountain was to meet that

requirement to visit the presence or face of God. That was the mountain where Jeremiah hid the

Ark of the Covenant and the cloud was the evidence of the Shekinah (2 Maccabees 2). They

accompanied the pilgrims back to Galilee. An additional area of affliction was that the apostles

could not talk about what they had seen on the mountain, but it kept their pride from becoming

too inflated.

It is likely that about this time the events of Luke 13:1-5 where Jesus was informed about

Galileans who were slain with their sacrifices. The only time it would be convenient for

Galileans to be in Jerusalem would be at the pilgrimage feasts. Since this was the one of those

feasts that Jesus did not attend this would be the most likely time for this announcement to occur.

Transjordan Judean (Perea) Ministry (Friday 2 May A.D. 32)

Who Pays the Census Tax (c. Tuesday 29 April A.D. 32)

This event cannot be precisely dated but it was sandwiched in between these events and it

shows that Jesus returned to Capernaum. It has been placed immediately before Jesus left for

Transjordan Judea. This event may indicate that most of Jesus’ disciples were less than twenty

years old, at half way through Jesus’ ministry, because they were not required to pay the census

tax (Matthew 17:22-27). The census tax must be paid by all men twenty years old and up (who

were counted, priests were not counted) (Exodus 30:12). It could be alternatively argued that

they had paid the tax or were not present when the collector arrived. But being less than twenty

years old would go with the disciples not being married, because the typical age for Jews to

marry was twenty years of age.156

Peter caught the first fish and it had a four-drachma (one

shekel) coin in its mouth, a miracle. They miraculously acquired money, a treasure that links to

the following week.

Passover in the second Month (Wed May 13 to Tue May 21 A.D. 32)

Perea Eve of Solar Passover in Second Month (Friday 2 May A.D. 32) {3-2}

The account of this Passover event was more abbreviated. It would be about a three-day

journey from Capernaum to Trans-Jordan Judea (Perea) and that area would be mostly

wilderness. It would also be about a three-day journey from Perea to Jerusalem. Jesus went there

for the Passover in the second month, which they must attend since they missed the first

Passover, because they were traveling. The great multitudes157

constituted a sacred assembly

(Matthew 19:2; Mark 10:1). The treasure gained was the ability to pay their taxes and deferred

wealth, Jesus promised His disciples—“You will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes

of Israel” and to those who gave up things for the sake of the kingdom would receive a hundred

fold return (Matthew 19:28-29). There was an increasing emphasis on spiritual rather than

154

This is an argument for accepting the textual variations. 155

Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist, (New York, Doubleday, 2011) 132.

cf. Exodus 34:23; 23:17. 156

@Jewish normal age of marriage. 157

I have no idea why these great multitudes would gather at this time and place except they

were seeking out Jesus.

58

material treasure. Jesus cleansed the leaven from the crowd answering clearly the question, “is it

lawful to divorce for any reason? (Matthew 19:3). There was no evidence of a meal. There was

bitterness in this event when Jesus announced the Son of Man was to be betrayed, this filled the

disciples with grief (Matthew 17:23). Pestering Pharisees tried to get Jesus to say something so

that they could get Herod to arrest Him as Herod had imprisoned John the Baptist. This region

was under Herod Antipas’ jurisdiction and he is the one who arrested John the Baptist near this

place.

They went from there on a journey (Matthew 19:15)—because Jesus could not stay long

because He needed to be in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover in the second month. So He left and

secretly journeyed to Jerusalem and celebrated Passover in the second month. There was no

mention of Jesus keeping a watch, but to escape the crowd a journey leaving at night would be

resonable. This is the weakest of the Passover events links, but it still follows the sequence. It

was a time the gospel writers were recording fewer details about Jesus and His ministry.

Passover in the second Month (Wed May 14 to Tue May 20 A.D. 32)

This event was not described in the gospels, but was necessary to keep the Law. Jesus

came to Jerusalem at this point secretly to celebrate Passover, so that His presence was not

known to the Chief Priests or the Pharisees because they were out to kill Him. All normal

Passover events kept as part of completing the Passover. After this week, Jesus’ returned to

Galilee and then sent out the seventy (-two) disciples. During the summer most of the people

would be occupied tending the crops on their farms.

Sending out The Seventy-Two (c. Summer A.D. 32)

This is not a Passover event and the time is only approximate. During this season, Jesus

ministered from town to town in Galilee; He did not enter Judea (John 7:1). This would last for a

series of months, but probably rarely or never having the seventy-two disciples gathered at the

same time. The locations probably include Galilee, Samaria, Perea and Judea. A reference Luke

10:1-17.

At the Feast of Tabernacles (Saturday 11 October A.D. 32) {17-7}

This is not a Passover event. Five months later, the weeklong feast of Tabernacles was at

hand (John 7:3) and Jesus’ brethren tried to convince Jesus to stop hiding in Galilee (because

they did not believe Him). Jesus stayed behind in Galilee while the others went to Jerusalem.

Jesus did go but only after staying in Galilee for the feast of Yom HaKippurim. It is not apparent

why Jesus left late for Jerusalem. Jesus could legitimately not go to the feasts because preserving

His life was a higher law than keeping the festivals. Jesus said, for Me the right time has not yet

come (John 7:8).158

The events of John 7:4 to 10:21 occurred at the Feast of Tabernacles and all

the events around the healing of the man born blind occurred within the span of a few days. This

passage occurred in the context of the feast of Tabernacles, closing the Jubilee year. Jesus did not

go up to the feast at the usual time but went later in the middle of the feast (John 7:14), at which

time He had recently done a miraculous healing of a man on the Sabbath (John 7:21-23). In John

9:1-10:21 in a follow-up visit to the man born blind, there is description of the full story that

actually started on the Sabbath a few days earlier. When the feast was over from the viewpoint of

158

Because the Essenes were a large group and disagreed with the chief priests on the days to

celebrate the feasts, there probably was some freedom on when the feasts were celebrated.

59

the priests, Jesus remained. The last and greatest day of the feast was a Wednesday. Jesus that

night observed a Sabbath rest, He journeyed only to the Mount of Olives within a Sabbath days

walk of Jerusalem. The next morning, rather than returning home, He was back in the Temple

teaching (John 7:37; 8:1-2). It does not appear that Jesus was celebrating this feast by the solar

calendar.159

This was likely the feast where Jesus visited Lazarus, Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-

42).

The Feast of Dedication (Wednesday 17 December A.D. 32) {25-10 to 2-11}

This was not a Passover event. Two months later, the events of John 10:22 to 10:39 the

Feast of Dedication of the Temple is an eight day feast starting on Kislev 25. This feast was

instituted in the context of the completion of the cleansing of the Temple recorded in 2

Maccabees 10. The Jewish people (c. 164 B.C.) voted to celebrate this feast for eight days each

year in the same way the other pilgrim feasts were celebrated.160

It is not clear when during the

feast that the incident occurred, but it was probably at the very end of the feast, because Jesus

escaped and went to where John the Baptist had ministered. Jesus may have been near this

location but a day closer to Jerusalem, when the message of Lazarus’ death reached Him.

Because He waited two days and arrived on the fourth day this was likely about the correct

distance from Perea near Jericho to Bethany. This is the feast today known as Chanukah

(Hanukkah).

JESUS’ FINAL WEEKS A CHRONOLOGICAL NARRATIVE

Lazarus of Bethany Raised (Tuesday 3 March A.D. 33) {13-12}

Two months later, this was an Adar Passover event one month before Passion Week.

There are few hints as to when Lazarus was raised from the dead (John 11:1-56). This event

happened between the Feast of Dedication and the preparation to journey to Jerusalem for the

Passover. The event was not too long before the Passover, but it was not directly linked to that

event and it was after the end of December. From previous experience, it was assigned one

month before the Passover. The month before the solar Passover seemed to be the more

reasonable date. With those assumptions, one can discern that Lazarus died on a Friday, the word

reached Jesus on Sunday, but He waited until Tuesday morning to travel to Bethany. It appears

likely that Lazarus was raised in similar circumstances to the son of the widow of Nain, but

according to the Roman calendar. The year was A.D. 33 Jesus raised three people during His

ministry. Here Lazarus was raised on the third day of the week, in the third month of the year, on

the third day of the month and one might speculate at the third hour Roman time so 3PM. An

Adar Passover event much like the wedding feast at Cana. The announcement occurred on

Sunday one solar month (thirty-one days), before the Last Supper and Lazarus was raised on the

third day, (the fourth day after Lazarus died). This assumes that it took about one day to get to

Jesus and about one day for Jesus to get to Bethany. The bitter event was the death of Lazarus.

The Todah event was the raising of Lazarus. Three, the number of days between when Jesus

heard about Lazarus and when Jesus raised Lazarus. This event along with the date of Jesus’

circumcision, and presentation in the Temple, strongly support the Julian Calendar and the

transition away from the Jewish calendar.

159

On the solar calendar, this feast started on 1 October A.D. 32 eight days earlier. 160

The Bible feasts were seven days, but an extra day was later added, maybe the eve of the feast

which the gospels refer to as the first day of the feast. This was done for people outside the

land of Israel where the days of the month might be different.

60

The family probably was a priestly family (Lazarus is Greek for Eleazar the name of the

second High Priest). Priests could not own land (except home and garden) so they needed

another occupation like perfumers. Perfumers made the holy anointing oil (Exodus 30:23-38).

The only reason someone would have so much perfume (Mark 14:5) was because they made it

for a living. The problem, because Lazarus had died and was raised so the Chief Priests were

hostile to his family (and wanted to kill him). Therefore, they could conclude the oil was tainted

by the uncleanness of death, and so they refused to buy it. The blend was a special formula and

was restricted for use only for sacred anointing. The only normal legitimate use of that oil was

for service in the Temple like anointing priests at ordination or Temple articles for sacred

service. The only place they could sell it was to the Chief Priests. Since it could not be sold for

another purpose (Numbers 19:14-15; Exodus 30:33-34), Mary at the prompting of the Holy

Spirit and very likely of her brother Lazarus, anointed Jesus with the proper oil for a priestly

ordination and for sanctifying the Temple.161

They knew He was the Christ, who better to anoint

with the sacred oil than the Anointed One. Made by the family who made the Temple anointing

oil. We are told the nard was in an alabaster box. Alabaster was stone and a closed stone vessel

would have prevented both the vessel and oil from becoming unclean. The value of the nard was

about a years wage, and it was the treasure item for this event. Mary fell at Jesus’ feet when she

came to Him so an instance of bowing and worship (John 11:32). Martha said you are the Christ,

identifying Jesus as the Lamb to be slain (John 11:27). Jesus cleansed the leaven of a dead body,

the most serious uncleanness by raising Lazarus. Jesus probably came from beyond the Jordan so

there was a water crossing. When Jesus left Bethany, He went and spent the next three weeks

hiding at Ephraim (John 11:54) a town north of Bethel in Judea.

The Final Journey to Jerusalem and Passion Week (Wed 25 Mar A.D. 33) {5-1}

About ten days before the crucifixion, Jesus and company joined a caravan of Galilean

pilgrims, just north of Jericho, headed to Jerusalem for Passover. It was necessary for Galilean

pilgrims to arrive early for Passover to be cleansed on the third and seventh day with the water of

cleansing (Numbers 19). On the way, Salome, the mother of James and John bar Zebedee (and

the sister of His mother Mary) asked Jesus to allow James and John to sit on His right and left

when He came into His kingdom.162

Thursday evening 26 March AD 33, He also stayed with

Zacchaeus in Jericho and in the morning He healed two blind men. In Jesus’ final week, the solar

Passover started on Tuesday evening and the official Passover started the following Friday

evening. Even though the two Passover weeks overlapped, Jesus was selected at the Passover

Lamb twice, each time five days before the respective Passover. The first time occurred when the

two blind men in Jericho identified Jesus as the Son of David. The second selection occurred at

the triumphal entry which the crowds identified Jesus as the Son of David. Many were washed at

this time with the water of cleansing at that time, but that never included Jesus, because it always

made one unclean before it cleansed (Numbers 19). They also needed to acquire their Passover

lambs for the Last Supper.

Mount of Olives Friday Night (27-28 March A.D. 33)

161

It seem like it would need to be a priest that anointed Jesus with the perfumed oil. Unmarried

women in the household of a priest had some priestly liberties such as eating some of the food

reserved to the priests. 162

The two places on His right and left as Jesus entered into His kingdom were reserved for the

good and the bad thief. That was why Jesus said you do not know what you are asking for, can

you drink the cup…?

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Jesus and the apostles spent the night on the Mount of Olives at the garden of

Gethsemane so that they were within a Sabbath day’s journey of Jerusalem for the next day. It

was likely at that time (or late Saturday afternoon); Jesus gave the Olivet discourse to His

apostles. All Jerusalem was cleaned up for the Passover so the Temple looked as good as it could

look.

The Anointing at Bethany Saturday Night (28 March A.D. 33)

This event fulfills a part of the requirement for the Passover, the one offering the sacrifice

to God must be a priest. The washing and anointing of Jesus was the start of a weeklong

(Saturday to Friday) High Priestly ordination process. So Jesus was a priest when He offered the

sacrifice of Himself on the cross and in the tomb. See “Jesus was Anointed High Priest”163

The Triumphal Entry Sunday Afternoon (29 March A.D. 33) {10-1}

In the last week of Jesus’ life, He was twice chosen or revealed as God’s choice for the

Passover Lamb for His family. Jesus was the Christ, the Christ was the king, but the Christ was

also the Passover sacrifice. By choosing Jesus as their King, the people were also choosing Jesus

as their Christ and Passover. The synoptic authors place this event as soon as Jesus got to

Jerusalem, which was consistent with Jesus the Lamb and the Last Supper as Passover. John,

correctly, placed the event here and consistent with Church history. Jesus arrived at the Temple

in the evening; this was the tenth of Nisan the official day to choose ones families’ Passover

lamb.

The Cleansing of the Temple Monday (30 March A.D. 33)

Monday, Jesus cleansed His Father’s house (the Temple) when He drove the oxen, sheep,

pigeons and moneychangers out. That was a busy day at the Temple, because every family

needed to come and select a lamb that they would keep for the Passover to be celebrated Friday

evening. Pigeons would be for the purification of poor women who had given birth. The pilgrims

had to first exchange their money because they could not use Roman currency to make purchases

in the Temple.

Jesus answers Questions (Tuesday 31 March A.D. 33) {11-1}

This was the eve of the solar Passover (the Last Supper) and Jesus was busy cleaning out

all possible leaven from His house before the coming Passover that will occur at sunset that day.

Jesus answers those challenging questions, questions that are the toughest His opponents could

muster. Jesus only answered in parables on this occasion when He was rebuking an authority. Is

it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar? In the resurrection whose wife will she be? Which

commandment is the first of all? Jesus then asked a question of His own to clarify that the Christ

was the Son of David. How can they say that the Christ is David's son? The answer to this

question was given by Jesus in (Revelation 22:16) the same verse where Jesus identifies the

Bright Morning Star (the Star of Bethlehem) with Himself. A final removal of leaven, Jesus said,

“Do as the Pharisees say, not as they do.” When some Greeks requested to meet Jesus, He said

that His hour had come; it was time to celebrate the Passover. At that hour, God thundered from

heaven, for the third time God audibly identified Jesus as His Son.

The Last Supper (Tuesday continued)

Annie Jaubert in a well argued book proposed that the Last Supper occurred on Tuesday

evening rather than the following Thursday evening.164

The Essenes community was careful to

follow what they believed to be the actual Biblical calendar. They kept a solar calendar where

163

Bruce Killian, “Jesus was Anointed High Priest,” 2010 www.scripturescholar.com/JesusPriest.pdf. 164

Annie Jaubert, The Date of the Last Supper, 1965, pp. 103-117.

62

Passover always occurred on a Wednesday so the Last Supper would be held on Tuesday

evening. One of the chief advantages of that proposal is that the eight trials of Jesus (some with

“many witnesses”), did not have to be shoehorned into the three hours between 3AM and 6AM.

Annas, Caiaphas, Herod, Pilate, and all members of the Sanhedrin do not have to stay up through

night rushing to convict Jesus and breaking their own law regarding when a capital conviction

could take place. This does not mean that the solar Passover was the only correct Passover;

rather it meant both were correct Passover dates.

Most exegetes reject Dr. Jaubert’s proposal.165

Some argue that there is no evidence that

anyone in the New Testament followed a solar calendar, the evidence of this article answers that

objection by showing that Jesus had a pattern of celebrating both the solar and lunar-solar

Passovers during His public ministry. He seemed to have had special meals only on the solar

events and kept the official Passovers on the official dates. The cleansing of leaven events here

were the cleansing the Temple, and answering all the tough questions of the Pharisees,

Sadducees, etc. He was revealed as the Son of David and so God’s choice by the blind men in

Jericho. The only journey He made was across the Kidron valley to the Mount of Olives, the

farthest journey one was allowed to make at that time. He was worshipped when the arresting

guard fell to the ground. He kept the watch of Passover on the Mount of Olives. He did the first

of the sprinkling of His blood on the four sides of the altar when He shed great drops of blood on

the Mount of Olives,166

to the east of the altar. With outstretched arms, He consecrated the

Eucharist. His death was revealed when His Body was presented separate from His Blood in a

chalice and when the bread, His Body was broken at the Last Supper. Sacrifices were slain in the

Temple by removing their blood capturing it in an open vessel (bowl/cup).

Unleavened bread

It was the week of unleavened bread, so after the Last Supper no Jew would eat

unleavened bread during the feast of unleavened bread. Neither Annas, Caiaphas, Herod Antipas

nor Pilate gave Jesus any food or water—one who gave Jesus a cup of cold water will not lose

his reward. If Jesus was given any food, then He was given leavened bread, which He could not

eat. Since Jesus had said eat what is set before you, it is unlikely that He was served anything.

The Afikomen and so the Eucharist was the last food one was allowed to eat at the Passover.

After that, one was only allowed to drink. At the Seder Jesus did not drink the fourth cup until

He received it on the cross. Also Jesus said, after He was taken (so in the garden), His disciples

would fast (about Matthew 9:15) so they did. This seems to be another example where everyone

involved fasted for the period between the Last Supper and the Crucifixion.167

Jesus prayed in

the Garden of Gethsemane from about midnight until about 3AM. About 3AM, He was arrested

and taken to Anna’s Palace for His initial interrogation and beating.

Jesus’ Arrest (3:30AM Wednesday 1 April A.D. 33)

On this night the 90% full moon shown from sunset until it set about 3:30AM. Jesus said

at the time of His arrest, “this is your hour—when darkness reigns (Luke 22:53), Since the sun

(the greater light to rule the day and the moon the lesser light to rules the night (Genesis 1:16).

When neither the sun nor the moon was visible, would be the time that darkness reigns. Also

165

Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger), Jesus of Nazareth: Part Two: Holy Week: From

Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, (San Francisco, Ignatius, 2010) 111. 166

Bruce Killian, “Jesus Our Passover,” 2010, www.scripturescholar.com/JesusOurPassover.pdf. 167

Scott Hahn, “The Fourth Cup,” webpages.marshall.edu/~trimbol3/4thcup4.htm

63

since Jesus had slipped out of the grasp of those trying to arrest or kill Him so many times and

they had decided to apprehend Him by stealth (Matthew 26:4) and they are approaching with a

cohort (600 men) it makes sense that they waited for the cover of more complete darkness after

the moon set before making their final approach in an attempt to catch Jesus by surprise.

Jesus’ Trials (Wednesday –Friday 1-3 April A.D. 33)

Trials Annas, Caiaphas, and two Sanhedrin trials, (Wed-Thu 1-2 April A.D. 33) {13-1}

Jesus’ trial started about 4AM Wednesday when He was brought first into Annas’ palace.

During that trial, He was beaten about His head, so His blood was sprinkled on the ground on the

south and east sides of the altar and toward the Temple at the different beatings He endured.

After an hour Jesus was transferred probably across the courtyard, to Caiaphas’ palace where

Jesus second trial commenced. Probably about first light Wednesday, Jesus was transferred to

the Sanhedrin Chambers (Chamber of Hewn Stone) in the wall of the courtyard of the priests, so

in the Temple. The Sanhedrin brought “many” witnesses, but could not get agreement in order to

get a conviction.

A capital case tried by the Sanhedrin had to be held during the day on two successive

days and a conviction had to occur on the second day.168

The Sanhedrin met this requirement

when they tried Jesus on Wednesday and convicted Him at dawn on Thursday. Because Jesus

was convicted of blasphemy, the law required that all witnesses who heard the blasphemy place

their hands on the head of the accused. "Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who

heard him were to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly was to stone him”

(Leviticus 24:14). He was accepted at the gate of the Temple when the Chief Priests laid their

hands on His head as required to accept a sacrificial offering, and to indicate that they witnessed

His words of blasphemy169

after He was convicted by the Sanhedrin Thursday at dawn.

The First Trial before Pilate and Trial before Herod (6:30AM Thu 2 April A.D. 33) Jesus was then promptly transferred into the custody of the Roman Procurator Pontius

Pilate. That was the start of the three days and three nights that Jesus said He would be in the

heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40-41). So we can surmise that much of the time Jesus was held

in an underground cell, when He was not being accused before Pilate. When Pilate learned He

was a Galilean he sent Jesus to Herod, because Galilee was Herod’s territory. Herod was

conveniently in Jerusalem at that time.

After Jesus was transferred to the tetrarch Herod Antipas, He was questioned extensively

but refused to answer. If one remembers that Herod liked to listen to John the Baptist, and had

wanted to meet Jesus, it would be easy to infer that Herod would have continued to incarcerate

Jesus for an extended period so He could listen to Him. Since Herod thought Jesus was John

raised from the dead, and since he was not happy about executing John, it is easy to see why he

would not wish to try John (Jesus) again. Because Jesus did not speak, He was eventually

returned to Pilate and His trial continued. So Jesus fulfilled the passage as a lamb before his

shearers is silent (Isaiah 53:7).

The Second Trial before Pilate (Jesus or Barabbas) (Thursday 2 April A.D. 33) Jesus was tried before Pilate a second time, during that time Pilate gave the Jews the

choice between Jesus and Barabbas. Barabbas was taken so he was the scapegoat, so Jesus’

168

Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4.1. law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/jesus/sanhedrin.html 169

Bruce Killian, “Jesus was Anointed High Priest,” 2010, www.scripturescholar.com/JesusPriest.pdf.

64

blood was chosen to be the goat whose blood was taken into the Temple. Goats represent sinners.

The one who released the scapegoat was afterwards to wash, and so them Pilate washed his

hands. Two times the atonement rite happened during the first month, when the Aaron, his sons

and the Tabernacle in the wilderness were consecrated.170

Jesus was in the process of being

consecrated and consecrating the Temple in heaven (Hebrews 9:24).

After that trial, Jesus was scourged, crowned with thorns and mocked.

Third and Final Trial before Pilate Dawn (5AM Friday 3 April A.D. 33) {14-1} About first light (5AM) Jesus’ trial reconvened. Jesus was condemned by Pilate at the

sixth hour Roman time, that was dawn, 6AM (John 19:14). But in the final phase of the trial,

Pilate, who did not want to execute Jesus, had just turned over the crucifixion of Jesus to the

Chief Priests. While Pilate would be ready and able to crucify Jesus, the Chief Priests were not.

This meant the Chief Priests were delayed in crucifying Jesus while they got the Temple

carpenter to manufacture a cross on which to crucify Jesus. This is also why Jesus was nailed to

the cross rather than tied, the carpenter had nails but no rope. This took some time so Jesus’

journey to Golgotha was delayed about an hour. The Temple would have lots of wood available

but most of it cut for easy handling as firewood.

For those who believe that Jesus was condemned by Pilate at noon (John 19:14 the sixth

hour) and then crucified at 9AM (Mark 15:25 the third hour), one must understand that even

words used by the same author can have a different meaning. The Bible does not restrict the

author from presenting day or times in a different manner from another Biblical author. In a large

city with the sun visible, one could not confuse the time by more than three hours, because the

sun would indicate the time and the time would be announced every three hours by horn. It also

means there is no need to push the hour of the crucifixion to noon. That would prevent Jesus

from fulfilling the morning and evening sacrifice, which were sacrificed at about 9AM and 3PM

(Numbers 24:3-4). Jesus’ crucifixion occurred at the time the morning sacrifice was offered and

His death occurred at the hour the evening sacrifice was offered to enable Him to fulfill these

offerings.

Crucifixion 9AM to 3PM (Friday 3 April A.D. 33) {14-1}

For those who believe that Jesus’ crucifixion had to be earlier than the traditional Friday

because of Matthew 12:40-41 (For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a

huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth). Jesus

changed hands from the Chief Priests to the Romans after He was convicted of blasphemy. Much

of His time after that point He would be in Pilates prison almost certainly underground so in the

heart of the earth. So as Jonah was sometime alive in the hold of the ship and sometime dead in

the great fish Jesus was sometimes alive and some time dead in the heart of the earth sometimes

in prison and sometimes in the tomb for three days and three nights in the correct order from

Thursday at dawn until Sunday just before dawn.

170

This is somewhat complicated, Aaron and his four sons were ordained in the first month a

weeklong process (Leviticus 8). On the eighth day (Leviticus 9:1) Nadab and Abihu died in

the Tabernacle by holy fire. The account of Nadab and Abihu is given in Leviticus 10. To

cleanse the Temple and atone for it, the atonement sacrifice was done Leviticus 16. So this

means the ninth day of ordination was the day of atonement, and Easter Sunday was the ninth

day of Jesus’ ordination. The first day of atonement occurred during the first month of the

second year in the wilderness.

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In all four gospels, the day of Jesus’ crucifixion was called the ‘day of preparation’. The

Jews referred to Friday as the ‘day of preparation.’ On Sunday afternoon, the disciples on the

road to Emmaus referred to that being the third day since these events took place (Luke 24:21).

Because the Jews counted days (and years) inclusively, that must refer to Friday. It appears that

Jesus kept a vigil while on the cross. He kept the watch of Passover on the cross (part of the

reason God made night come early on that day). He was afflicted for three days, He went without

fluids until He said, “I thirst,” just before He died. He made a three-day journey into Hades

(counting inclusively using Roman days). Jesus was healthy, they did not take His life, He gave

it. He was identified as God’s choice at the triumphal entry on the tenth of Nisan. He was

worshipped at the resurrection when the women clasped His feet. There was water from His side.

Practically every part of this day was bitter, but the wine mixed with gall was a specific bitter

event. He prayed and redeemed the world with outstretched arms on the cross revealing His

might. 171

Jesus’ blood was placed on the doorposts and lintel of His House on the cross, because

that wood came from a doorway in the Temple.172

The cross was a doorway. Passover lambs

were placed on two sticks shaped like a cross173

and then were skinned before roasting. Jesus’

skin was removed when He was scourged, also His clothes were removed. As the Scriptures

required of the Passover lamb, not one bone of His was broken. There was a sacred assembly at

the cross, with many of the Chief Priests being present. God’s presence was indicated by the

earthquake. The crucifixion was the prime Passover cleansing, done at the correct time. The sign

of the darkness at noon also occurred at the evening of Passover when one recalled that there

were two evening, the first started at noon. The hyssop branch (sponge on a stick), did not appear

to put His blood on the doorposts, but Jesus’ body was a Temple and Jesus’ mouth was a door to

eternal life. I am the door of the sheep… the sheep “hear” Me John 10:7-8).174

There were a long list of red things at the crucifixion. The wood of the cross was cedar, a

wood that is red. There was a clay pot of wine and a sponge, all three are reddish items. There

was a Roman guard of four soldiers dressed in red. Jesus had been scourged so He was covered

with blood. Jesus had been cloaked in scarlet after He was scourged, threads from that had

adhered to His skin. There was a hyssop branch, hyssop has red flowers (but not in the spring).

The smoke when it cleared made the sky red at sundown.175

Shortly thereafter the moon rose

eclipsed and blood red.

The power of Moses’ prayer against the Amalekites was enhanced when he prayed with

outstretched arms. Moses had Aaron and Hur to hold his arms. Jesus’ arms were supported by

the nails on the cross. The power of Esther’s prayer was enhanced when she and her maids fasted

from food and water until the third day, Jesus fasted from food and water until the third day and

His disciples probably fasted at least from food during this period. God also hears the cry of the

poor, and Jesus had no possessions, not even clothes, because those belonged to His

executioners. The power of the Israelites prayer was enhanced when they cried out to God in

171

Bruce Killian, “Shroud of Turin Shows Jesus’ Body was Offered as a Holocaust at His

Resurrection,” 2001, www.scriptureScholar/HolocaustResurrection.pdf 172

Bruce Killian, “Jesus Our Passover,” 2010, www.scripturescholar.com/JesusOurPassover.pdf 173

Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist, (New York, Doubleday, 2011) 132. 174

We are also to pray with the door closed (Matthew 6:6) which can mean not uttering words. 175

Jesus was led as He carried His cross, so there was likely a cord with His blood on it that was

also used to support and stabilize His cross. The hill where He was crucified was the altar that

no tool had been used on it (Joshua 8:31).

66

their misery. Jesus’ prayers were enhanced when He cried out to God, even though very difficult

on the cross. Jesus power was maximized at His hour, so His prayer was heard by the Father.

When Moses lifted up the seraph serpent on a pole in the wilderness and all who looked on it

were healed. Jesus was lifted up that we might be healed of our sin and restored to a relationship

to God.

Why did God’s Son have to die? Jesus was the person who made the covenant with

Moses on Sinai. By His death, the covenants He established (e.g. the Mosaic covenant) like a

marriage covenant were annulled when one spouse died. By doing that, Jesus took the tool Satan

used to keep Israel in bondage away and broke it. By annulling the Old covenant the New

covenant could be established.

Why the sign in the heavens of the sun being darkened for three hours. Jesus referred to

Himself as the bridegroom (Matthew 9:15) and the Church is His bride (Ephesians 5:25). The

sun is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion (Psalm 19:5). At a Jewish wedding the

bride and groom consummated the marriage during the day during the wedding. While the sun

was hidden the bridegroom was in His chamber and when the marriage was consummated, Jesus

announced that fact and died. The crucifixion was the hour when Jesus paid the price for His

bride. Jesus had completed everything for the establishment of the New Covenant which

included marriage to His bride. In heaven marriage is different from marriage on earth, but it still

is a covenant and it still involves the exchange of persons. The sun was darkened to so indicate

that the marriage of the Lamb and His Church was being consummated. A great sign in the

heavens with a great purpose. Psalm 19 was written to the chief musician (Psalm 19:1). Since the

morning star sang together at the foundation of the world (Job 38:4-7), the orchestration of the

signs is a work that God as the Chief Musician directs. God was orchestrating the sign indicating

the consummation of the marriage of His only beloved Son. This again matches the exodus

where God led His bride, Israel, to the wilderness (Jeremiah 2:2).

Chan

gin

g sacrifice req

uired

one to

be

nailed

to b

eam

Jesus was fulfilling the Temple sacrifices, but if one fulfills the sacrifice so that

it is no longer required, then one would be changing the sacrifice. Darius decreed five

centuries earlier when he was involved in reestablishing the sacrifices in the Temple that

if anyone changed those sacrifices that a beam was to be pulled from his house, and he

was to be lifted up and nailed to that beam. Ezra 6:11 Furthermore, I decree that if

anyone changes this edict, a beam is to be pulled from his house and he is to be lifted up

and nailed to it. And for this crime his house is to be made a pile of rubble. Because

Jesus was fulfilling and annulling the sacrificial laws, He was changing the Temple

sacrifice and so He incurred the penalty imposed by Darius. But since His house was the

Temple a beam was to be pulled from His house (the beam was from a doorway) and

His house was pulled down and made into a heap of rubble in August A.D. 70 after a

siege by general Titus. His house was also Israel, they continued as a people, but as a

nation they were pulled down. The Temple was made into a heap of rubble after it

burned down on tisha B’Av (ninth of Av or Ab) because the Romans pulled up the

foundation stones to get the gold that melted off the Temple into its foundation.

67

The C

ross a D

oorw

ay

The cross not only came from a doorway in the temple it was a doorway. The blood of

the Passover lamb was to be placed on the two side posts and the top post of a doorway

to one’s house (Exodus 12:7, 22-23). In Revelation 3:20 Jesus says behold I stand at the

doorway and knock. The cross as a door way is not complete without Jesus the door. He

was able to stand while nailed to the cross and knock on the doorway inviting us to

enter. The cross is the doorway to heaven and Jesus is the door. Jesus as a carpenter and

doorway builder carried a cross daily throughout His adult life. Isaiah was standing at a

threshold of a doorway in heaven when his sins were purged (Isaiah 6:4, 7). From Jesus’

side flowed water, from the doorway of the Temple will flow water (Ezekiel 47:1).

Cord

to H

old

Cro

ss

The proper altar of sacrifice could not have any tool used on it (Exodus 20:24-

25). Jesus’ cross was placed on that altar, but since no tool could be used on it they

could not cut a hole in the rock for Jesus’ cross to rest in so that it was supported

therefore Jesus’ cross had to be supported in another way, heap of rocks would be one

way, but not vary stable. It is practically certain that there was at least one line attached

to the top of the Jesus’ cross to help raise and lower the cross. If the same cord that was

used to lead Jesus then it would have been colored with a certain amount of His blood.

So Jesus’ cross was probably held in place with stay lines like a flagpole. That is lines

were attached to the top of the cross and those lines were used to help raise and steady

the cross and finally those line were staked into the ground to hold the cross in place.

This would make it much easier for Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus to lower the

cross to remove Jesus’ body. Rahab let Joshua’s spies down from window in the wall of

the city marked with a scarlet cord (Joshua 2:18-21). That window was used as a door

and marked with a scarlet cord a link to Jesus’ cross. At Jericho those in the room

marked by the scarlet cord in the “doorway” were safe while everyone else including

animals died.

Enth

roned

betw

een th

e

Cheru

bim

Since the cross that Jesus was crucified on came from the doorway in the Temple

to the room where the priests ate the sacred bread, it would have been marked like all

the Temple with pictures of Cherubim. Therefore when Jesus was enthroned on the

cross He also was between the cherubim. Since Jesus’ mother Mary was the ark of the

covenant,176

and she was standing at the foot of the cross and Jesus was covered with

His own blood Jesus was above the ark of the covenant, covered in blood and between

the Cherubim. That should remind one of the mercy seat and the atonement sacrifice.

Jesus’ cross had a seat because the two thieves were seated next to Jesus when He

entered His kingdom (Matthew 20:20-23).

176 The Catholic Resource Network, “Mary, Ark of the Covenant,” 1994,

http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m4/ma.html

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The E

ngrav

ed G

old

Plate

When the High Priest ministered, he was to have a gold plate engraved “holy to

YHWH” above his head. Pilate apparently marked Jesus’ crime on a beeswax filled

wooden framed writing tablet that was hung above Jesus head, which said Jesus of

Nazareth, King of the Jews. It was written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Gold can refer

to the metal gold or of golden color.177

When one writes in wax one engraves the wax so

the sign above Jesus head announcing His crime appears to meet the requirement of the

golden plate above the High Priest’s head. In Hebrew if the translation was Jesus of

Nazareth and178

King of the Jews the first letters of each of the four words would be

YHWH so much as Jesus sentence is commonly abbreviated INRI the Latin for His

sentence. Hebrew is often written without the vowels and YHWH is the name of the

LORD without vowels. Jesus was not just holy to the LORD, He was the LORD. Jesus

was High Priest and sacrificial atonement goat on the cross.

When the High Priest ministered he was to wear bells, failure to do so was at the

cost of his life. Jesus suffered the penalty for ministering without the bells.

The C

ross as th

e Tree o

f Life

The if one eats the fruit of the Tree of Life one is able to live forever (Genesis 3:22).

The cross is called a tree (1 Peter 2:24).

Jesus’ cross was the Tree of Life and Jesus is the Branch and the Fruit.

John 3:12-16 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then

will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven

except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the

snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 That everyone who believes

in him may have eternal life. 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and

only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The Snake was lifted up on a wooden pole—a tree. Jesus was lifted up on a cross—a

tree. Acts 10:39c They killed him by hanging him on a tree, fruit hangs from a tree—so

Jesus is the fruit on the tree of the cross. This is explained in John 6:53-54 Jesus said to

them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His

Blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has

eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. So to eat from the Tree of Life, one

was eating Jesus, because “only” His Flesh and Blood could provide life. Now Jesus did

not say one must only believe in Him to gain eternal life, but one must eat and drink

Him. So His Body and Blood is the fruit of the tree of life. This means we do not need to

wait until some future date to eat of the fruit of the tree of life it is available at Mass

every day and it has been available since the first century. Eating the fruit of the Tree of

Life does not mean that one will not die, it means that even if he does die he will live.

Jesus was Entombed (Late Friday Afternoon 3 April A.D. 33)

177

Exodus 28:36 engraved on pure gold—the work pure tahowr (meaning clean) and zahab gold

the metal or it can also refer to of golden color Job 37:22 of the purest oil which is brilliant

like gold. 178

If the person translating Pilate’s sentence into Hebrew thought in Greek but wrote in Hebrew,

it would be easy to translate adding an “and” because the Granville Sharpe rule uses kai to link

to nouns referring the same person and kai when translated into Hebrew adds a waw to the

word to indicate the conjunction.

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He died, He did not just swoon, His death actually occurred and His side was pierced

with a spear, a blow that would have killed Him had He not already been dead. Afterwards He

was washed, spiced, wrapped, tied, and entombed. When the moon rose at the horizon just after

sunset at the start of Passover, it was already eclipsed. It was blood red partially because it was

close to the horizon and partially because of the smoke that earlier darkened the sky. According

to Jewish rules, anything with a man’s blood on it was buried with him because His life was in

the Blood. Because the cross had Jesus’ Blood on it, His cross was entombed with Him. His

body was placed on the wood of the cross, which was piled neatly under His to conserve space.

Many reject the crucifix in favor of the cross, because Jesus is risen, but the only cross was either

being carried by Jesus, nailed to Jesus or buried in pieces arranged beneath Jesus in the tomb.

The cross did not exist apart from Jesus.

Jesus’ Tomb was Guarded (Saturday Morning 4 April A.D. 33)

When the Chief Priests requested that Pilate place a guard on Jesus’ tomb, Pilate said,

“You have a guard.” The guard they had was the Temple guard. The guard placed at Jesus’ tomb

was a Temple guard, composed of a priest and Levites. Those guards met the requirement for the

body of the red heifer was watched by the second to the High Priest as the body of the red heifer

burned (Numbers 19:5).

On The Third Day He Rose from the Dead

In the Apostles Creed, we profess that on the third day Jesus rose from the dead

according to the Scriptures, so Jesus was resurrected on the third day. Where do the Scriptures

say that Jesus was to rise from the dead on the third day? It would be nice if Isaiah 53:13 said

after he was cut off, on the third day, He would rise from the dead, but there is no such passage.

It was because Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice, that one can deduce that the Scriptures teach

He would rise on the third day. Sacrifices were not only slain, they were roasted, eaten, and the

remains burned up. Part of the reason this is difficult is because it was a mystery, deliberately

hidden in the Old Testament or the rulers of that age would never have crucified Jesus (1

Corinthians 2:8).

How does Jesus being a sacrifice relate to Him being raised on the third day? Jesus told

His disciples on the way down the mountain after the Transfiguration, not to talk of the

Transfiguration until He was raised from this dead. They discussed what it meant to be raised

from the dead—note it does not mean, come back to life, although that is how we think of this

event. In Hebrew, a sacrifice could be offered as a `olah, which means to go up (as in smoke). In

English, this is normally translated as holocaust or whole burnt offering. In Greek, the word for

resurrection is anastasia, which also means to get up if one had been lying down. Jesus probably

spoke in Aramaic, so the word was `alah with a meaning similar to the Hebrew, hence the

disciples confusion. Therefore, we always speak of Jesus as rising from the dead not being

resuscitated or coming back to life. Why does it have to occur on the third day? Well there are

some instances in the Isaac was offered on the third day and received his life. The great fish

regurgitated Jonah on the third day after he had been dead in the belly of the fish. Each sacrifice

has its own rules on how the sacrifice was to be consumed. He ‘rose’ as the smoke of the

offering of His own body and He made himself a new body with His wounds still visible so we

could recognize Him, but immortal and much less limited than His previous body. He offered

His body for the justification of the whole world. He was resurrected on the third day. It was the

third day rather than the second day, because one was not permitted to kindle a fire on the

Sabbath (Exodus 35:3). The remains of all sacrifices were to be burned up on the following

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morning or the second day depending on which sacrifice one referred to. His body was burned

up as required of the Passover lamb’s remains (Exodus 12:10). This prevented Jesus from being

entombed for three days and three nights, because any sacrifice became corrupt on the third day,

and Jesus’ body did not become corrupt (Acts 2:27). When His body was burned up, He rose.

When John the Baptist said that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire, it is

likely that the burning up/transformation of our bodies was what he was referring to.

The Resurrection (5AM Sunday Morning 5 April A.D. 33) {16-1}

It is believed that the Resurrection occurred at the time the Bright Morning Star rose in

the East that is about 5AM. His cross was consumed with His Body at His Resurrection as the

wood of the sacrifice. Jesus’ work was not completed when He died on the cross Jesus died for

our sins, but He rose for our justification (Romans 4:25).

The Temple guards kept watch. First, the earthquake started (indicating the presence of

God) and stone was rolled away from the entrance to the tomb so the guards could observe the

Resurrection. From the shroud of Turin it appears that Jesus was upright at the time His body

was resurrected.179

Second, fire from God came down and burned up the body of Jesus and the

wood of the cross,180

but not His linen grave clothes (the Shroud of Turin), which were also His

initial priestly garments (seamless linen robe, sash and turban) for entering the Temple in

Heaven. The linen vestments of Nadab and Abihu were not consumed by the holy fire when their

bodies were consumed (Leviticus 10:1-10). The smoke of His sacrifice rose as a sweet aroma to

the Father. Then Jesus in the twinkling of an eye got an incorruptible body. His new body still

had the marks of His crucifixion so He could be identified.

Of the day of First Fruits, Scripture says, this days is to be a most solemn and most holy

day, do no servile work, this is to be an everlasting ordinance (Leviticus 23:21). The Law

anticipated Jesus’ Resurrection. Psalm 110 links the Son of David to the priesthood according to

the order of Melchizedek. Jesus was a priest as was required to offer even Himself to God as a

sacrifice. Jesus as a priest was also linked to Venus the daystar. From the womb, before the day

star I have begotten thee. The LORD has sworn thou art a priest forever according to the order of

Melchizedek (Psalm 110:3-4 Douay).

This day was near or at the first normal visibility of Venus as it rose, the Bright Morning

Star. 181

It rose in the constellation of Pisces or fish. There is a continuous important link to fish

throughout Jesus’ public ministry. What is the meaning of fish? Let them grow as fish do

increase (Gen 48:16; Ezekiel 47:9). If the church was so important to God’s plan, why don’t we

see it mentioned in the Old Testament? Because the church was a mystery so not revealed until

Paul (Romans 16:25). 182

Generating the exact order and sequence of all the overlapping events of this first Easter

morning and a list of each visitor to His tomb is a complex task. The author has not yet worked

out every detail.

179

Jesus upright at resurrection Reference @. 180

The cross from a doorway in the Temple was made of Cedar of Lebanon. The red heifer

sacrifice (Numbers 19:6) needed to have cedar wood burned up with the sacrifice. 181

John P. Pratt, “Venus Resurrects This Easter Sunday,” 2001,

www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/lds/meridian/2001/venus.html. 182

Ethelbert W. Bullinger, The Witness in the Stars, Kregel Classics, 1893 ed. Reprinted 1967.

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Journey to Emmaus & Jesus’ Meets with His Apostles (Sunday 5 April A.D. 33)

On the first day of the week, Sunday afternoon, Jesus journeyed to Emmaus with two

disciples (one was Cleopas, probably His father Joseph’s younger brother). They mention at that

time that it had been three days since all these things happened, referring to Jesus’ death. Since

Jews counted inclusively, this was three days from Friday afternoon. Since these disciples were

not apostles and they recognized Him in the breaking of the bread, they had been at the one and

only place where that breaking had previously occurred, the Last Supper five days earlier. Since

these men were there (and the other disciple was a man and not Cleopas’ wife),183

there were

more people present at the Last Supper than just the apostles. We are also told it was a large

room, something not necessary if only thirteen were present. A possible limit is forty if one lamb

could feed between ten and twenty and Jesus sent Peter and John each of whom could slay a

lamb in the Temple.184

The list of likely attendees would include Jesus’ mother, and His

brethren, James and John’s mother Salome, the women of their company like Mary Magdalene,

Joseph called Barsabas, Matthias, His host Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea, etc. Some the

topics Jesus might have shared with the two disciples may be found in these articles “Jesus Our

Passover” and “Jesus was Anointed High Priest.”

While the two disciples journeyed back to Jerusalem, Jesus met with Peter. Note when

the two disciples arrived they were aware of where the apostles were hiding and they were

admitted to the group. They had also been informed of all the events that happened early that

morning.

Jesus Met with His Apostles except Thomas (7PM Sunday 5 April A.D. 33)

Sunday evening He met ten apostles and completed their ordination (but this was only six

days from the foot washing that started their ordination). It appears that Cleopas was likely

Jesus’ stepfather’s younger brother, but other relatives of Jesus were likely not present because

Jesus said that He would meet them in Galilee. It appears that Jesus did not have wine at the

Eucharist celebrated at Emmaus, but here Jesus asks for food and received broiled fish (Luke

24:42). The initial thought was He was demonstrating that He had a physical body and was not a

spirit. We have seen so many Eucharistic events where fish were used rather than wine. Could

fish, a creature who lives in water and dies in the air be an indication of death that the Eucharist

portrays and so be (an inferior?) substitute for the wine which becomes Blood and shows death

because the Body it is separated from the Blood? Fish also died when in blood when the Nile

was changed to blood. Could it be that the fish represent Jesus as ichthys (Jesus Christ God Son

Savior)? Fish in the scripture have a strong link to rapid multiplication. There are abundant fish

in the river of Life (Ezekiel 47:9). The other thought is that wine was always present, but its

presence went unmentioned.

Jesus Meets with His Apostles including Thomas (c. 7PM Sunday 12 April A.D. 33)

Eight days later, inclusive, ends on the following Sunday. This was the night after nearly

everyone headed back to Galilee. Why this second meeting after the resurrection, two or three is

183

Luke 24 indicated both disciples were men and Cleopas was probably selected as one to hear

that message, because he as their father would be the most influential over Jesus’ brethren. 184

Josephus, Jewish Wars, 2, 14, 3 footnote 19, say other notes that the estimate of the number

of persons per lamb was twelve, but no one says how many was the maximum number of

persons per lamb, so the author estimates twenty persons per lamb.

www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/war-2.htm#EndNote_War_2.19b

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the number of witness, Jesus gave the apostles as a group a second opportunity to witness the

Resurrection. That was important because they were to be witnesses of the Resurrection.

Jesus told His brethren to precede Him back to Galilee. Why when nearly all the pilgrims

departed for home, did the apostles stay behind? What was Jesus doing during this period? Why

wasn’t He continuously with His apostles and disciples? It is most probably that Jesus spent the

preceding week sanctifying the Temple in heaven that had been defiled when Satan fell.

Jesus and disciples the Sea of Tiberius (Fri May 1, A.D. 33) 2nd Solar Passover

This was another solar Passover and another meal. Peter and company fishing (John 21),

but they really kept a watch all night because they fished without success. Jesus told them to cast

their net over the other side. They received a sudden and unexpected treasure of 153 large fish.

When John identified Jesus as the man on the shore asking if they had caught anything, Peter

attempted to walk on the sea, but instead was baptized/buried. Peter had his leaven cleansed, he

got an unexpected washing, also he was cleansed from his threefold betrayal of our Lord, by a

threefold questioning. He was confirmed in his leadership position (the first pope) because Jesus

gave him the care and feeding of all His flock. Peter’s strong arm was displayed in that at Jesus’

command, he (after climbing up into the boat/the church) pulled in the net full of fish by himself

that the others six could not pull in together. Jesus fed them bread and fish. On nearly all solar

Passovers of Jesus’ ministry, He served a special meal. This fishing expedition may have been

motivated by dare we say three days without food, because all their stores and money had run

out? The location, the Sea of Tiberius is understood to be the bay of the Sea of Galilee near the

city of Tiberius, near or at the place where the five thousand were fed.

The Great Commission (Sunday May 3, A.D. 33) {14-2} Day after the Second-first Sabbath

This date is a guess, but it occurred between the encounter on the shore of the Sea of

Tiberius and the time to return to Jerusalem for the Ascension. This was on a hill in Galilee.

(Matthew 28:19-20). The apostles would almost immediately have left on the journey back to

Jerusalem for the Ascension. But they made a side trip to a mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16)

to meet with His disciples and probably the abovet five hundred disciples (1 Corinthians 15:6)

including Jesus brethren (dare we assume two days following this day) which was a Sunday,

where Jesus commissioned them to make disciples of all nations. At this time, they all bow and

worship Him.

Ascension Thursday Sundown (6PM 14 May A.D. 33) {25-2}

The timing of the Ascension is interesting in relation to the second Passover. The solar

Passover in the second month was extended a second week as had been done in Hezekiah’s

Passover (2 Chronicles 30:26). In addition, by both calendars, it was always 30 days between the

fifteenth of the first month and the fifteenth of the second month. So Jesus departed from earth as

soon as the second week of solar Passover in the second month was completed that was

Thursday evening. This means the Ascension occurred at sundown, immediately following the

end of the second week of the solar Passover in the second month. Therefore, from conception to

death, resurrection and ascension all of Jesus life was linked to the Passover. Jesus would be

back in heaven before the day was complete.

Jesus’ return will be on a Passover. His return will be in the same manner as He left, but

we are told to keep watch for His return, because we don’t know the day or the hour. Even if one

knew the year, of Jesus’ return, one still does not know which Passover Jesus will return on so

His return will be unexpected by most. There are six Passover events and Holy Thursday making

seven different days each year Jesus could return to earth.

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Jesus did not say, “Lo I am with you always,” and then proceed to immediately break His

promise. He is present in His Church in the form of the Eucharist.

Pentecost Sunday (9AM 24 May A.D. 33) Second First Fruits

Pentecost was pilgrimage festival, the second of four first fruit celebrations the first fruits

of the wheat harvest. Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost had full come. This day the Holy Spirit

descended on the one hundred and twenty disciples and after Peter preached three thousand

disciples were baptized. There were men from every country under heaven (for the purpose of

spreading the gospel worldwide as quickly as possible). During Peter’s sermon, he mentions the

pouring out of the Spirit and the sign of the sun turned to darkness and the moon to blood (Acts

2:18-20) as events they had witnessed. This confirms this date as shortly after the eclipse of the

moon. It also shows that the pilgrims from distant lands came for Passover and stayed until

Pentecost. It appears that God chose this time for the start of the Church, because the wheat

harvest represented the better grain (than the barley harvest that occurred right after Passover). It

could also be that many Jews that came from out of the country came and celebrated Passover in

the second month to shorten their stay in Jerusalem.

Observations

The Church

In these stories that follow the plot of Passover there are many other important themes.

One of the more important is the revelation of the Church, which is the Family of God, The

Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven. The Exodus was the event that formed Israel into a

cohesive group—a nation-a kingdom of God—the Passover was their common story and it was

the time they were freed from slavery. Each section advances our knowledge and understanding

of the Church. Rather than putting a little about the Church in each event, many are combined

here: Israel called the kahal the Hebrew word for assembly (Exodus 12:6) often translated in the

Septuagint by ecclesia, which is usually translated church in English. At the annunciation, Mary

became the Queen mother of the Church and the first to receive the Body of Blood of our Lord

Jesus Christ a great treasure. The Church seems to be the way to collect future treasure. Many

confuse wages and rewards, all will get their wages, not all will get rewards. The Church is the

bride of Christ. The magi reveal the King of the Kingdom (Matthew 2:2) the Lion of the tribe of

Judah. Jesus was God’s choice for the Lamb for His entire household, He was redeeming His

family. Jesus was subject to His parents (Luke 2:51). Jesus would provide “wine” at His hour.

But those used to the old wine did not want the new wine and the new wine would destroy the

container that held the old wine. Peter—first pope named185

—Keys to the kingdom that was

control over what was to be binding on Christians (Matthew 16:19). Nicodemus—born anothen

meaning both ‘born again’ and ‘born from above’, both necessary to see the Kingdom of God

(John 3:3). In Sychar, worship not here or in Jerusalem—but true worshippers worship in spirit

and truth (John 4:23) the Church is not limited to a location. That was important because a single

location to meet is impractical for a worldwide Church. In Capernaum, blessed are the poor in

spirit, theirs “is” the kingdom of heaven, etc. not will be the kingdom. The Catholic Church is

Kingdom, we have not been waiting two thousand years for it to arrive, Jesus promised the

Kingdom and He established the Kingdom before He left. Peter’s bark (or boat) [representing the

185

Peter could best be translated Rocky, not little stone or he would have been called lithos or

stone.

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Church] a place of ministry, authoritative teaching (like the seat of Moses), and safety (Matthew

8:23 John 21:3). Sitting in the boat, representing His and the Churches, teaching authority.

Roman centurion a gentile (but not a pagan) and honored member of kingdom of heaven, etc. but

heirs (Chief Priests, Pharisees, etc.) thrown out (Matthew 8:11-12) so the church is not national,

but international and being a member of a particular nation is no guarantee of membership. The

four thousand gentile men glorified the God of Israel, they celebrated Passover uncircumcised a

sign that the Church could encompass that group. Jesus said to Peter, upon this rock I will build

my Church; the king revealed (Matthew 16:18). Jesus is the foundation, but so are the apostles

starting with Peter. Church needs eunuchs for the kingdom (Matthew 19:3). This statement was

informing the apostles on an area of affliction/self-denial they would be celibate. The Church

needs men who are holy and can deal with holy things. This was just as the Levitical priests were

celibate when they ministered in the Temple. The Levitical priests were under a similar

restriction, but only during the two weeks per year, they ministered in the Temple. It is hard for a

rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:23). Why because a rich man is

surrounded by the cares of this world which frequently choke off fruitfulness. Jesus promised

conflict and division, but conflict can make one either bitter or better. Jesus wants the church to

be better as a result of the conflict. The church revealed —Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as

these (children). Children know they are dependent, they know that can’t make it on their own.

Last Supper the Eucharist instituted the Passover of the Kingdom that is the church. Crucifixion

allowed and founded the church. Seven disciples together in Peter’s bark (John 21:2) Peter given

the responsibility to shepherd, feed and care for all our Lord’s sheep and lambs. The great

commission was given to make the all the nations into the kingdom of God. It is interesting that

the Churches calendar is solar, except as related to Easter, which directly affects the timing of

Lent and the Easter season. At Jesus’ command the Church can accomplish great things and with

damaging their ability to accomplish more great things (because their nets didn’t tear). The

ministry of Jesus especially the Last Supper, crucifixion and resurrection was the common story

of the Church. As the Exodus freed Israel from slavery so the resurrection freed the Family of

God from slavery to sin. Jesus’ entire ministry gives the church the big ministry of cleansing the

House of God of leaven, that is cleansing the Church from sin.

Numerical Numbers for the Dates of various Events

God who controls the number and length of months and weeks, picked certain days of the

week and month according to His own purposes. This is an indication that dates of events maybe

important. Some thoughts, Jesus was born Sunday (1) 12/25/1; One the number of unity, twelve

the number of rule, and five squared of the number of grace. By God ruling by grace.

Circumcised on Sunday 1/1/1; unity, unity, unity, unity. Two the number of witness, Jesus was

presented in the Temple on 2/2 and there were two witnesses to that act. As we have seen, the

number three is solidly related to the Resurrection, third day of the week, third day of the third

month. Jesus’ Resurrection was on the third day and Lazarus was raised on the third day after

Jesus’ heard about his illness. The third day after a solar Passover seems to be linked to a

wedding (wedding at Cana, woman at the well, and Jesus as the bridegroom on the cross). The

number four has to do with worldwide (four corners of the earth, four winds of heaven, etc.).186

186

When Peter was sent to the gentiles, there were a lot of fours in those instructions four

cornered sheet, four footed animals, and four day ago (Acts 10).

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Jesus’ death and Resurrection were centered on Passover Saturday, the fourth day of the fourth

month, inviting the sense that that sacrifice was the covenant for the whole world.

The Signs of John’s Gospel

It appears that the first two signs of John’s gospel happen on Tuesday evening during a

Passover event. John only identified two of the signs the reader is left to interpret which other

events are signs. The first sign was changing water into wine at the wedding at Cana. The second

sign was the remote healing of the noble man’s son in Capernaum from Cana. The reason John

did not list all of these signs was not stated, maybe he left it as an exercise to us. Probably it was

that others had been adequately detailed by the other evangelists. The working hypothesis is that

Jesus preformed signs at His hour. His hour is interpreted as being the evening of Passover. So

the signs of the gospel of John point to the events of the New Passover instituted by Jesus

culminating at the Eucharist. A second insight was all of these events were strongly tied to life.

The water that was turned to wine was done in the stone jars that were for the purification

particularly from the impurity of death. Also a wedding was a prelude to new life (babies). Jesus

told the noble man, “Your son will live.” The rest of the signs (not all from John’s gospel are the

raising of the son of the widow of Nain. The feeding of the five thousand and the feeding of the

four thousand. Both of the feeding miracles Jesus provides physical nourishment so extending

physical life and prefiguring the fruit of the Tree of Life. The raising of Lazarus and finally the

institution of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is interesting because there was the command not to

drink blood of an animal because the life was in the blood. In Jesus case there is a command that

we must drink the Blood. The reason is similar, but different because divine life is in the Blood.

If one looks at the purpose for signs in John’s gospel they were to show Jesus is the Christ and

through believing we may have life in His name (John 20:30-31).

Passover Event List

1. Solar and Official Passover—the annunciation, conception, journey to Judea and visit to

Elizabeth.

2. Official Passover—the magi in Jerusalem and Bethlehem and the flight into Egypt.

3. Official Passover—visit to Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve.

4. Year A.D. 31 Adar lunar-solar Passover—the baptism of Jesus’ apostles and Jesus identified

as the Lamb of God and the first disciples join Jesus.

5. Adar solar Passover—the cross-ladder-Lamb sign in the sky and the wedding in Cana, with

changing water into wine.

6. Official Passover first of Jesus’ ministry—cleansing the Temple and Jesus first public

miracles

7. Solar Passover—Jesus meets Nicodemus, baptism of Galilean pilgrims, arrest of John the

Baptist, the woman at the well and the healing of the nobleman’s son.

8. Passover in second month—Jesus calls apostles, preaches Sermon on the Mount and Plain,

Jesus calms a storm on the sea, drives legion into the sea, forgives a paralytic, raises the

daughter of Jairus, and gives sight to two blind men and his men eat grain in a field on the

Sabbath.

9. Second solar Passover Jesus calls His apostles, preaches parables, and raises the son of the

widow of Nain.

10. Passover in the proper second month—weak Jesus during Pentecost and His return to

Nazareth.

11. Year A.D. 32 Adar lunar-solar Passover—John the Baptist was martyred

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12. Solar Passover Jesus learned of John’s death, fed 5000, walked on the sea, preached the

Bread of Life sermon, and then journeyed to Tyre.

13. Second week solar Passover Jesus healed the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman,

journeyed to the wilderness of the Decapolis, fed 4000 gentiles, and fled ending up in

Caesarea Philippi.

14. Official Passover, Peter identified Jesus as the Christ and Jesus journeyed to the mountain

and was transfigured.

15. Second solar Passover, Peter catches a fish with a four-drachma coin. Jesus journeyed to

Perea where He ministered.

16. Official second Passover Jesus went to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.

17. Year A.D. 33 Adar solar Passover Jesus raises Lazarus

18. Solar Passover Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples.

19. Official Passover Jesus crucified and Resurrected, Emmaus walk and apostle ordination

20. Second solar Passover—Jesus meets disciples on shore of the sea of Tiberius, the great

commission, and the ascension (Two weeks long)

21. The second official Passover—no obvious evidence of celebration.

Conclusion The life and ministry of Jesus was centered and focused on fulfilling the Passover. Jesus

fulfilled every detail of the requirements for the Passover lamb, born when and where the lambs

were born. Presented and accepted as a lamb at the Temple gates by a priest with all proper

procedure and protocol. He died in Jerusalem at the time the lambs were being sacrificed, etc.

The signs in the heavens signaled the time of Jesus’ birth, ministry, death and Resurrection. They

did more than that; they identified Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah receiving the scepter of

rule. They identified Him individually as the Lamb to be slain.187

They identified the cross as the

ladder to heaven and Jesus as the one opening the way on the evening of the solar Passover (a

month early). Jesus not only kept the official Passover feasts, He kept the alternate Passover

feasts both before and after the Passover, by both the official calendar and solar calendar. The

way Jesus kept these feasts signaled that the purpose of the Exodus/Passover was to provide the

framework that was “the plot” for the various stories of Jesus life and ministry. Jesus fulfilled the

Passover, by being the reason for the Passover. The elements of the Passover plot when used,

easily make a good story. So when Jesus kept the Passover requirements it was a Passover, so we

can locate and date those events.

Problem, the only viable years for a Friday crucifixion on the eve of the Passover were

A.D. 30 and 33. If Jesus’ ministry was three years long then the date for John the Baptists

ministry fits very well starting about six months before Jesus’ baptism in the fall of A.D. 29. The

problem is we now have good evidence Jesus’ public ministry was only two years. Either this

makes the ministry of John at least a year and a half or it places the fifteenth year of Tiberius

ending not before mid-August A.D. 30. One more piece of evidence that Augustus died later than

A.D. 14.

The second-first Sabbath when properly understood, properly placed in time Jesus’

ministry in and around Capernaum. Many of the large crowds encountered by Jesus were

187

Revelation 5:5-6 Combines the pictures of the Lion of the tribe of Judah with the Lamb that

appeared to be slain and also with the Root of David on the throne in heaven in the midst of

the cherubim.

77

pilgrims gathering for and going to Jerusalem for a festival or returning from a festival to

Galilee. From the earliest days of the Church, the two-year ministry has been proposed. Israelites

were commanded to count the Sabbaths from the time of the wave offering until the feast of

Weeks. Passover could be celebrated in the second month under certain conditions. If one were

counting from this second Passover, one would count the first Sabbath following the second

Passover as the second-first Sabbath. This concept has apparently escaped all chronologist of the

ministry of Jesus, so they have missed this point. When properly understood, the early weeks of

Jesus' ministry come into clearer focus. Jesus was active in ministry from the time of His first

public appearance. He promptly chose His apostles. He was constantly on the run for His life.

The evangelists record many details of Jesus’ first few months. In the three-year ministry, we are

left with very few details of Jesus entire first year of ministry and all those details are all from

the gospel of John. Even if the interpretation of second-first Sabbath is rejected the logic of

events happening as presented here is far more compelling that the standard three-year ministry.

Luke 6:1 ties Jesus’ ministry in Capernaum to the Passover in the second month of Jesus’ first

year of ministry.

What have we learned? We have strongly supported the view that Matthew was the

chronological synoptic gospel. The two years of Jesus’ ministry were a Sabbath year—Jubilee

year pair, indicating what? All of Israel should have followed Jesus for two years. He was not

seeking a harvest of His own at that time. He consistently left the crowds behind after only one

or two days of ministry. He prepared His disciples to reap the harvest, He did not reap, rather He

sowed and tended the crop. First Fruits/Easter was the start of a new epoch of harvest because

there was to be no harvest of believers during the two previous years the entirety of Jesus’ public

ministry. This does not exclude gathering the occasional disciple in the field. There were four

First Fruits celebrations per year the second First Fruits celebration was at Pentecost, it was at

that time that the harvest of men really started. We also learn that Jesus was led by the events of

His days, when He was hungry, a ministry requiring fasting may be necessary to cast out unclean

spirits. When Jesus was grieved and wanted time alone, but He was pursued by the crowds, He

allowed Himself to be stretched and He ministered. His suffering empowered His ministry. We

are told He learned obedience by what He suffered, that was not just during His passion, but also

throughout His life. We have also concluded that the solar Passover was very much a part of

Jesus’ ministry. The Last Supper was a Passover and was on Tuesday evening. Jesus was

crucified on Friday, the eve of the official Passover—both were Passovers.

The timing of the raising of the son of the widow of Nain and Lazarus emphasizes the

number three in the Resurrection and witnessing to both the official Jewish and Roman

calendars. The raising of the widow’s son happened while Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem for

the feast of Pentecost.

Jesus by the timing of His actions particularly when He celebrated feasts associated with

Passover supported both a solar calendar and a lunar-solar calendar, but there were differences.

The Dead Sea scrolls indicate the Essenes kept a solar calendar where the principle feasts all

started on a Wednesday. The statement by John that Jesus was the Lamb of God occurred on a

Wednesday (Tuesday evening). The feeding of the five thousand coincided with the day of the

solar Passover and occurred one year before the Last Supper, on Tuesday evening. The feeding

of the four thousand occurred on the following Tuesday evening and that feast was celebrated

with the gentiles. Jesus celebrated the official Passover in the official manner in Jerusalem.

One unexpected observation was there were a series of Passover events one month before

Passover, so similar to the Passover in the second month, there were Passover events in the last

78

month (the twelfth or thirteenth month) of the year herein called Adar Passover events. It would

seem to be the Blessed Mothers request, to deal with the lack of wine at the wedding feast, that

instituted that additional Passover event time, because it carried on in each of the two subsequent

years. Only on the solar Passover did Jesus ministered to the gentiles (Sychar, Tyre, and Sidon).

Only on the solar Passover did Jesus serve special meals, never at any other time. Jesus did keep

the official Passover when possible on the official Passover, but once on the official Passover in

the second month because He was traveling (due to the danger of going to Jerusalem) on the

official Passover.

There were eight signs in the heavens tied to Jesus (four were recorded and one alluded to

in the gospels) (the Star of Bethlehem was two signs linked together so together they point to

Passover). Four of the eight signs occurred on the eve of Passover or on the Passover. Jesus was

to be a sign that was to be contradicted. The sign of Jesus was the Passover fulfillment. The

religious leaders of Jesus’ day constantly contradicted Him and when this story comes out there

will be more opportunity for Him to be contradicted. Only a hard heart can allow all these signs

and links to be ignored. Two of the signs have to do with the sun and two of the signs have to do

with the moon. The sun does play a part in all the signs. All signs with Venus, the Bright

Morning Star, also had the other morning star (Mercury) present. The sun was darkened and the

moon turned to blood at Jesus’ birth and at His death. And four signs have to do with the bright

morning Star. Two of the signs are the Bright Morning Star with the fixed stars and two of the

Bright Morning Star with the wandering Stars (one of these signs occurred in the evening).

The magi saw the Lion of the tribe of Judah, receive a ruler’s staff between his feet and a

scepter and His star as dictated to whom the scepter belonged. At midnight on 25 December 1

B.C., Jesus was born on the darkest day and time of the year. Four days later the on the 29

December 1 B.C. the red moon rose eclipsed at the horizon and it was seen because Josephus

records it. On the eighth day 1 January A.D. 1, Jesus was circumcised, named, and shortly

thereafter presented and accepted at the Temple as a Lamb for sacrifice. The magi came to visit

his house on Passover 27 March A.D. 1. On 8 January A.D. 31, Jesus was baptized. On 4 March

A.D. 31, in the evening, there was a great sign in the heaven pointing to the person and work of

Jesus. For two years, Jesus ministered, but the record we have received of His ministry is tied to

the times of Passover. On 3 April A.D. 33, Jesus died on a cross as our Passover Lamb. That day

the sun was darkened and that evening the moon was as blood. At Jesus’ Resurrection, His star

rose to mark another heavenly sign. That sign pointed to fish representing the kingdom He

established, the Catholic Church. That same Church continues to be the current manifestation of

that Kingdom to this day because He did not leave it and the gates of Hades cannot prevail

against it.

Everything written about Me must be fulfilled Luke 24:44 Maybe we should celebrate the Seder

on the solar Passover to increase our understanding of and connection to our Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ. The fulfillment annulled the Old Covenant and established the New Covenant.

79

Calendar of Jesus Infancy and Birth All Dates are Julian

The calendar was changed in 45 B.C. but took 50 years to stabilize so there was no leap year in 4 A.D. so

the days of the week are one day later Sunday vs. Saturday than they are by normal Julian calculation.

Month 4 April 1 B.C. 1 Sunday 2 Monday 3 Tuesday 4 Wednesday 5 Thursday 6 Friday 7 Saturday 1 Nisan 9 2 3

4 5 6 Nisan 14 7

Passover

Conception

8 9 greet Elizabeth 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

GAP IN CALENDAR

Month 12 December 1 B.C. 1 Sunday 2 Monday 3 Tuesday 4 Wednesday 5 Thursday 6 Friday 7 Saturday 1 Kislev 16 2 3 Hanukkah

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Kislev 25 Dedication

11 12 13 14 15 Kislev 30 16 Tevet 1 17 8th & Last Day

18 Winter

Solstice 19 20 21 Journey

Luke 2:4-5

22 Lunar eclipse 23 Arrive

Bethlehem

24

25 Jesus Born Luke 2:6-20

26 {10/10} 27 28 29 Tevet 14 Blood Moon

30 31

Month 1 January A.D. 1 1 Sunday 2 Monday 3 Tuesday 4 Wednesday 5 Thursday 6 Friday 7 Saturday 1 Jesus Named/

Circumcised 2 Luke 2:21

Tevet 17

3 4 5 6 7

8 1/1/1/1 9 10 11 12 13 Tevet 29 14 Shevat 1

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Num 18:15-16

24 Jesus

redeemed

25 Luke 2:22 26 27 28 Shevat 15

29 30 31

Month 2 February A.D. 1 1 Sunday 2 Monday 3 Tuesday 4 Wednesday 5 Thursday 6 Friday 7 Saturday 1 Shevat 19 2 Presentation

in Temple 3 Luke 2:22-38 4

5 6 7 8 9 Always 2/2

and {11/20}

10 11

12 Shevat 29 13 Adar 1 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Adar 15 28

Month 3 March A.D. 1 1 Sunday 2 Monday 3 Tuesday 4 Wednesday 5 Thursday 6 Friday 7 Saturday 1 Adar 17 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Adar 29 14

Abib/Nisan 1 15 16 Lamb of God

selection

revealed

17 18

19 20 Nisan 7

21 Magi follow

star

22 Matt 2:1-8 23 Magi at

Herod’s palace 24 Nisan 11 25 Nisan 12

26 Nisan 13

Jesus in house

27 Magi see star Matt 2:9-12

28

Passover Matt 2:13-18

29 Flight to

Egypt 30 unleavened bread 3 31 unleavened bread 4

Nisan 18

80

Calendar of Jesus Public Life John the Baptist’s ministry starts in August or September A.D. 30 and lasted about 7 months to prepare the people for Jesus.

January A.D. 31 Julian calendar dates. To convert to Gregorian subtract 2 days Monday Jan 8 becomes Jan 6

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Short days less

distance traveled 1 Jesus ~age 30

Luke 3:21-23 2 Tevet 17 3 4 5 6

7 From Nazareth

travel 50 miles

8 Jesus’ Baptism

Mark 1:9-11 9 Fast day 1

Mark 1:12-13 10 Fast day 2 11 Fast day 3 12 temptations

Luke 4:2 13 Tevet 28*

14

Fast day 5

Tevet 29

15 Fast day 6

Shevat 1

16 Fast day 7 17 Fast day 8 18 Fast day 9 19 Fast day 10 20 Shevat 6

21 Fast day 11 22 Fast day 12 23 Fast day 13 24 Fast day 14 25 Fast day 15 26 Fast day 16 27 Shevat 13 28 Fast day 17 29

Fast day 18 30 Fast day 19 31 Fast day 20

*Sabbaths were feast days Lev 23:2-3, fasting was not permitted on feast days Neh 8:9-10 see Josephus for interpretation.

February A.D. 31 Assumes Bethany beyond the Jordan where John baptized was ~20 miles south of the Sea of Galilee. Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 Fast day 21 2 Fast day 22 3 Shevat 20

4 Fast day 23 5 Fast day 24 6 Fast day 25 7 Fast day 26 8 Fast day 27 9 Fast day 28 10 Shevat 27 11 Fast day 29

Shevat 28

12

Fast day 30

Shevat 29

13 Fast day 31

Shevat 30

14 Fast day 32

Adar 1

15 Fast day 33

Adar 2

16 Fast day 34 Luke 4:2-13

17

Adar 4

18 Fast day 35 19 Fast day 36 20 Fast day 37 21 Adar 8 22 Fast day 39 23 Temptation 24 Angels

25 Disciples

travel to John

26 disciples

baptized

27 Purim Est 10:13 John 1:19-28

28

Lamb of God

John 1:29-34 Purim

day 2

Mark 1:13

Mat 4:2-10 refresh Jesus

Mat 4:11

March A.D. 31 #Matthew, Mark & Luke’s gospels skip from the Temptation to John’s arrest about April 5.

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday travel 40

miles

1st Sign

Cana

Adar 15 1 1st Disciples

John 1:35-39 2 Disciple Peter

John 1:40-2 3 *

More disciples

John 1:43-51

4 Ladder to

Heaven

5 Wedding John 2:1-2

6

Water to wine John 2:3-11

7

Adar 22

8 wedding 3

Adar 23

9 wedding 4

Adar 24

10 wedding 5

Adar 25

11 Adar solar

Passover

12 wedding 7

Adar 27

13 travel 18 mi. John 2:12

14

Capernaum

Adar 29

15 postponed Nisan 1 new years day

16 Nisan 2

17

Nisan 3 18 To Jerusalem

John 2:13

19

Nisan 5

20 travel 100 miles

Nisan 6

21

Nisan 7

22

Nisan 8

23 Vernal Equinox Nisan 9

24

Nisan 10

25 Temple

Cleansed

26

John 2:14-22 27 Nisan 13

28 public miracles

John 2:23-25 29

Passover

Nisan 15

30 Unleavened 2

Nisan 16

31 Unleavened 3

Nisan 17

April A.D. 31 *John the Baptist served as a priest in his course, from March 3 through March 10, 31.

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 Omer 1 2 Unleavened 5

Nisan 19 3 Nicodemus

John 3:1-21 4 Solar Passover

Nisan 21 5 Baptizing

John 3:22-4:2

6

John arrested Woman at well

7 John 4:3 Sychar

8 Sychar John 4:4-43

Nisan 25

9 Passover recent Galilee John

4:45 Luke 4:14-15

10 7PM Cana John 4:46-54

2nd

Sign

11 Luke 4:23

John 4:46 12

13 Mark 1:14

Matt 4:12

Nisan 30

14 Nazareth #

Luke 4:16-30 Iyar 1

15 travel & preach Mark 1:14-15

16 Iyar 3 17 Iyar 4 18 Disciples

go fishing?

19 Iyar 6 20 21 Year of the

Lord’s favor

22 Luke 4:42-43

Mark 1:35-39

Omer 4

23 Jesus sleeps

Calms Storm 24 25 Iyar 12 26 Luke 5:1-11 27

1

st Disciples

Matt 4:18-22 Mark 1:16-20

28 Capernaum# Sermon on Mount

Matt 5:1-8:17 29 2

nd

Passover

30 Gadarene

demoniac

Matt 9:1-8 Mark 2:13-22 Mk 2:23-28

81

# Mark 1:21-34; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 4:31-41; Luke 5:12-16; Luke 6:1-9

May A.D. 31 #Jesus announces the Sabbath/Jubilee year pair See Leviticus 25:4, 8-9, 21-22.

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday At night returns

to Capernaum

1 Luke 5:17-26

Mark 2:1-12

2 heals Paralytic

calls Matthew

3 raise Jairus’

daughter

Mark 3:13-19

4 2nd Solar Pasch

12 Apostles Luke 6:12-7:10

5 Grain in fields

2nd

1st Sabbath

Luke 6:1-5

6 Omer 6 Luke 8:5-15

7 Iyar 24 8 Luke 7:11-16 soon afterwards

9 Luke 5:27-39 Matt 9:1-8

10 11 Matt 12:9-15

Mark 3:1-6 12

Withered hand Luke 6:6-11

13 Parable Sower

Matt 12:15-13:51

14 Joseph

died

15 Widow of Nain

Sivan 3 16 travel 65 miles

News in Judea Luke 7:17

17 John’s disciples Luke 7:18-35

Many cured

18 Sivan 6 19 Sivan 7

20 Feast of Weeks John 5:1

21 22 Sivan 10 23 24 Jesus feet washed

Luke 7:36-50 25 John’s

ministry over John 5:33-35

26 heals invalid John 5:2-47

27

Sivan 15 28 Sivan 16 29 Sivan 17 30 Sivan 18 31

Interlude between Pentecost 31 and Passover 32 Mark 6:7-11; Matt 10:1-42; Luke 9:1 –8 spans from June 31 to Feb 32 went from town to town and then sent the twelve out.

June A.D. 31 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sivan 19 1 Nazareth

Matt 13:54-58 2 Nazareth

Mark 6:1-6 3 From town to 4 town Luke 8:1 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 Sivan 30 12 Tammuz 1 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 8 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 15 27 28 29 30

July A.D. 31 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 22 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Tammuz 29 11 Ab 1 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 8 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 15 26 27 28 29 30 31

August A.D. 31 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 22 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 29 9 Ab 30 10 Elul 1 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 8 18 19 20 21 22 23 Elul 14 24 15 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 22

September A.D. 31 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1

2 3 4 5 6 7 Elul 29 8 Tishri 1 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Jerusalem

16 17 Yom Kippur Tishri 10

18 Jubilee Year

19 20 21 22 Tabernacles

Tishri 15 23 24 25 Autumnal 26 27 28 Tishri 21 29 Tishri 22 30 equinox

82

October A.D. 31 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6

7 Tishri 30 8 Bul 1 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Bul 8 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Bul 15 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Bul 22 30 31

GAP IN CALENDAR (nothing recorded known to happened during this period)

March A.D. 32 Ve Adar or Adar II (an intercalary month) Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday February 29 1 Adar 29

2

Adar II 1 3 4 Adar II 3 5 6 7 8

9 Adar II 8 Adar Passover

10 11 Herod’s

party?

12 13 14 15

16 Death John

the Baptist

17 Adar II 16 18

19 20 21 22 Vernal Equinox

23 Matt 14:1-12; Luke 9:7-9 Mark

6:14-29

24 report John

dead

25 Adar II 24 26 27 28 29

30 Green grass Mark 6:39

31

John 6:4 Nisan 1 Passover Near

Mat 14:21; Mark

6:1; Luke 9:10

John has a big gap before John 6:1 from May A.D. 31 until April A.D. 32 —emphasizing the Eucharist in John 6.

April A.D. 32 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 5000

* Fed all

four gospels

2 Solar Passover Walks on Water

3 Bread of life John 6:22-71

4

Near Tyre Mark 7:24-30

5 Nisan 6

6 travel 50

miles

7 Mark 7:31-37

Mark 8:1-9 Matt 15:29-39

8 4000 Gentiles w/ Jesus 3 days

9 Dalmanutha Mark 8:10-21 or

2nd Week Pasch

10 Bethsaida Mark 8: 22-26

11

Matt 15:21-28 12 Nisan 13

13 Caesarea Philippi

Matt 16:13-28 14 Passover

Mark 8:31-33

15 travel 100 miles

16

Matt 15:39-

16:12 17 18 Climbing

Mt. Nebo 19 Nisan 20

20 Transfiguration

Mt Nebo 21 Large crowd

Luke 9:37 22

Nisan 30 23 travel in secret

Mark 9:31 24 25 26 Nisan 27

27 Matt 17:1-13 Mark 9:2-13

28 Matt 17:14-21 Mark 9:14-29

29 4 drachma

coin Matt 17:24

30

Iyar 1

Jesus went to Tyre, Sidon, Decapolis and Caesarea Philippi to be traveling at Passover so that He spent the minimum time in

Judea combining going to the second Passover and Pentecost in only a few weeks and then probably incognito.

After Peter’s confession, selection as successor, 1st mention of the church, and first specific prediction of crucifixion. *The feeding of the 5000 unleavened bread—broken not torn or cut, beware leaven of the Pharisees, but barley not wheat.

See Easter Transfiguration for a discussion of the events of this particular month.188

Some Galileans die and their blood is mixed with their sacrifices at this time.

May A.D. 32 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 Iyar 2

Transjordan

2 2nd

solar

Passover

3 Mark 10:17-31

Luke 18:18-30

Matt 19:16-30 4 Omer 3 5 6 7 8 9 10

188

Bruce Killian, “The Time and Place of the Transfiguration,” 2002,

www.scripturescholar.com/EasterTransfiguration.pdf.

83 11 Omer 4 12 incognito 13 Jerusalem 14 2

nd Passover 15 Iyar 18 16 17

18 Omer 5 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Omer 6 26 27 28 Iyar 29 29 Sivan 1 30 Sivan 2 31

John 7:8 By interpretation, were these feasts optional because of the distance?

June A.D. 32 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 Omer 7 2 Sivan 4 3 4 5 6 7 Jerusalem 8 Pentecost 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 Sivan 17 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Sivan 24 23 24 25 26 27 28 Sivan 30

29 Tammuz 1 30 The Sabbath year and Jubilee years were to be times of cessation of the normal toil of planting and reaping. Had all

Israel followed this command the people would have had abundant time to hear and absorb the message of Jesus. Had the Jews

done so they would have reaped the promise for keeping the Jubilee, which was peace.

July A.D. 32 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Tammuz 15 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Tammuz 29 28 Ab 1 29 30 31

August A.D. 32 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Ab 15 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Ab 30 27 Elul 1 28 29 30 31

September A.D. 32 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 Elul 8 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 Elul 15 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Elul 22 18 19 20 21 22 23 Elul 28 24 fall equinox 25 Tishri 1 26 27 28 29 30 John has a second gap between 6:71 and 7:1—The Jews are trying to kill him now the feast of booths is near October 32.

October A.D. 32 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 Solar

Tabernacles

2 John 7:2-9

Jerusalem

3 4 Yom Kippur Tishri 10

5 Jesus left

for Booths

6 7 8 9

Tabernacles

Tishri 15

10 11 healed blind*

John 9:1-10:21

12 John 7:10 13 14 15 Tishri 21# John 7:37

16 Tishri 22

John 8:1-2

17 18 John 7:21-23

19 20 21 22 23 24 Tishri 30 25 Bul 1

84

26 27 28 29 30 31 *In the middle of the feast of Tabernacles (John 7:14) Jesus comes late to the feast in Jerusalem and healed a man born blind. #On the last and great day of the feast Jesus

Jubilee images: Sheepfold—Jesus is the door; Forgiveness of the woman caught in adultery; Freedom to slaves

November A.D. 32 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Bul 29

23 Kislev 1 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

December A.D. 32 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6

7 Kislev 15 8 9 10 Hanukkah 11 12 13 14 15 16 1 Macc 4:56-59 17 Dedication

John 10:22-39 18 Jerusalem

Kislev 25

19 20

21 22 Kislev 30 23 Tevet 1 24 8th & Last Day 25 winter solstice 26 27 28 29 30 Tevet 8 31

January A.D. 33 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3

4 5 6 Tevet 15 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Tevet 22 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Tevet 29 21 Shevat 1 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Shevat 8 29 30 31

February A.D. 33 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4 Shevat 15 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Shevat 22 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 Shevat 29 19 Shevat 30 20 Adar 1 21 22 23 24 25 26 Adar 7 27 Lazarus Died 28 Adar 9

Ministry in Perea, Lazarus raised.

March A.D. 33 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 Jesus hears

Lazarus ill

2 3rd

/3rd

/3rd

/33

3

Lazarus

Raised

4 At Ephraim

for 3 weeks

5 Purim 6 7

Adar 16

8 John 11:1-14 9 10 John 11:15-53 11 John 11:54 12 13 Adar 22 14 Nisan 1 15 Vernal Equinox

16 17 18

Mark 10:32-45 Luke 18:31-34

19

Mark 10:46-52 Luke 18:35-19:27

20 Adar 29 21

Matt 26:6-13

Mark 14:3-9

22 Passover Near John 11:55-57

23 Plot to slay Jesus

Mat 26:2 24 fig tree withered

Mark 11:20 25 To Jerusalem

Matt 20:17-28

26 Jericho Matt 20:29-34

27 Jerusalem Luke 19:28

28 Bethany John 12:1-11

29 Palm Sunday John 12:12-19

30 fig tree cursed Mat 21:18-19

Mark 11:12-14

31 Last Supper Mat 26:17

85

April A.D. 33 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Matt 21:1-9,27

Mark 11:1-11

Luke 19:28-38

1 Trials Caiaphas

John 18:19-23

Mark 14-55-64

2 John 18:28 Matt

27:1 Mark 15:1

Luke 23:1,6-12

3

Crucifixion*

John 19:13-21

Luke 23:13

4

Passover Mat 27:62

5 Resurrection#

John 20:26-31

First Fruits

6 Nisan 17 <= Emmaus

7 Nisan 18 Unleavened 4

8 Nisan 19 Unleavened 5

9 Unleavened 6

10 Nisan 21 Unleavened 7

11

12 Appears to 10 & Thomas

13 travel

Nisan 24

14 travel

Nisan 25

15 travel

Nisan 26

16 17 18 Nisan 29

19 20

Iyar 1

21 22 23 24 25 Iyar 6

26 27 28 29 30 *Preparation Day—Friday Luke 23:54-55; Mark 15:42; John 19:42

#First day of the week–Mat 28:1; Luke 24:1; Mark 16:29; John 20:1; the third day Luke 24:21. Resurrection

May A.D. 33 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Night fishing

3rd appearance 1 2

nd Solar

Passover

2 John 21:3,4,14 Iyar 13

3

4 2nd

Passover

5

6 ?James 1 Cor 15:7

7 8 2 week 2 solar

Passover 9 Iyar 20

2nd 1st Sabbath

10

Great commission

Mat 28:16-20

2nd

First fruits

11 travel 12 travel 13 travel 14 Ascension Acts 1:3, 6-13

15 <= last day

of 2nd

week

16 Iyar 27

17 1 Co 15:6 appears to 500

18 Iyar 29 19

Sivan 1 20 Matthias chosen Acts 1:15-26

21 Mark 16:15-19 Luke 24:49-53

22 23

Jerusalem

24 Pentecost Acts 2:1-41

25 26 27 28 heals Lame man Acts 3:1-4:4

29 Sanhedrin Acts 4:5-31

30

31

These symbols are used to indicate information should be in the nearby date.

Events covering a period of time.

Travel would span the gap between two events.

Shevat is the 11th

Jewish month; Adar is the 12th

month; Adar II is the 13th

month when needed

Nisan is the 1st month; Iyar is the 2

nd month; Sivan is the 3

rd month

Precisely dated events. —new moon start of year—new moon of the Nisan/Abib and new moon of Tishri

—full moon; —Eclipsed full moon

Color Coding 28 High Feast 29 Week Feast 30 Sabbath 31 Travel 1 Minor Feast 2 pre Passover

December A.D. 30 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Kislev 25

Dedication

12 2nd

Day 13 14 15 16 Kislev 30

17 Tevet 1 18 7th

day 19 Hanukkah 20 21 22 23 Tevet 7 24 25 26 Tevet 30 27 28 29 30 Tevet 14 31

86

Passion Week Details Wednesday c. 25 March 33 Solar Nisan 8

Jesus left the village of Ephraim and joined the caravan of pilgrims headed for

Jerusalem. Salome asked Jesus for her son’s James and John to sit at His right and left

hand (Matthew 20:20-28).

Thursday 26 March 33 Solar Nisan 9 Jesus selected as the Passover Lamb

6PM Two blind men one named Bartimaeus identified Jesus as the Son of David (Luke

18:35-43)—Five days before Solar Passover Lamb for the household of God selected.

6:30PM Jesus arrived at Jericho and stayed at Zacchaeus’ house (Luke 19:1-10)

Parable Nobleman to far country to receive a kingdom (Luke 19:11-28).

Friday 27 March 33 Solar Nisan 10

2PM Arrived in Jerusalem, (John 11:55) many purified themselves for Passover

celebration. Cleanse on 3rd and 7th day (Numbers 19:12)

Apostles procured lamb(s) for the Last Supper Seder

6PM Sabbath starts—11 Abib-solar calendar; 8 Abib-Lunar Solar Calendar

Night By inference, Jesus spent the night on the Mount of Olives.

Saturday 28 March 33 Solar Nisan 11 Sabbath

It appears that Jesus spent the day worshipping and teaching in the Temple.

4PM Jesus left the Temple (Matthew 24:1-3; Mark 13:1; Luke 21-5-7)

Mount of Olives Discourse (Mark 13; Matthew 24-25; Luke 21)

6PM “as you know, [solar] Passover and unleavened bread is two days away” (Matthew

26:1-2; Mark 14:1) Jesus was referring eve of the Passover.

John 12:1 Six days before the official [lunar-solar] Passover, after sunset the

company arrived at Bethany

7PM Dinner at Simon the Leper’s home at Bethany—Jesus was washed and anointed

on head, body and feet (Matthew 26:7, Mark 14:3, 8, 12, John 12:2-11)

Judas decides to betray Jesus

Sunday 29 March 33 Solar Nisan 12 First day of week Official Nisan 9

3:30PM Next day (John 12:12-14) Triumphal entry (Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke

19:29-44) John was accurate over the synoptic writers. Jesus was selected as the

Passover Lamb

5PM Looked around Temple, left because it was already late (Mark 11:11) and went to

Bethany with the twelve and lodged.

Mount of Olives (Luke 21:37; Matthew 21:17)

Judas went to the Chief priests, Judas agreed to betray Jesus (Matthew 26:14-16;

Mark 14:10-11)

Monday 30 March 33 Solar Nisan 13 Lunar-Solar Nisan 10 Second day of week

6AM Cursed fig tree on way to city the following day (Mark 11:12-14; Matthew 21:18-19)

7AM Cleansed leaven from His Father’s house the Temple (Matthew 21:12; Mark 11:15;

Luke 19:45). This was the time the Passover Lambs arrived for purchase.

Heals blind and lame at the Temple (Matthew 21:14-16)

87

Jesus teaches in Temple

5PM Jesus leaves for the night (Matthew 21:17; Mark 11:19)

Left because it was already late Mk 11:11 and went to Bethany & lodged

Went out of the city (Mark 11:19)

6PM Start of the first day of unleavened bread that is the day leaven was removed from

one’s house (Matthew 26:17-19; Mark 14:12; Luke 22:7; Ex 21:18)

Tuesday 31 March 33 Solar Nisan 14 Lunar-Solar Nisan 11 Third day of the week

This is the eve of the solar Passover

6AM In the morning the fig tree was withered—(Mark 11:20)

6:30AM John and Peter prepare for Passover (Luke 22:7-8; Mark 14:13; Matthew 26:19)

Jesus teaches in Temple

7AM Cleansed the leaven out of His house (Israel/Judah): Jesus answers the Chief Priests,

scribes and the elders (Luke 20:1)

Parable vineyard & tenants (Luke 20:9-19) Wedding feast: (Matthew 21:1-14)

Jesus answers the Pharisees and the Herodians (Luke 20:20)

Jesus answers the Sadducees (Matthew 22:23-33; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-40)

Jesus answers the Pharisaic scribe (Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34)

Woes on the Pharisees (Matthew 23:1-36; Mark 12:38-40; Luke 20:45-47)

A Widow’s mite (Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4)

[At this time John finished with Seder preparation finds Jesus in the Temple]

5PM Greeks ask to see Jesus, now has the hour come (John 12:20-23)

The voice of God thundered (John 12:28-30)

Other sayings (John 12:31-50)

5:30PM Before meal Jesus washed feet (John 13:1-4) then pus His clothes back on

They are at the house of Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea the large upper room

6PM when evening had come (Matthew 26:20; Mark 14:17) Passover Seder (in Jerusalem

probably on Mt. Zion) The Last Supper

Last Supper Discourse (John 14:1-17:26)

10:30PM Judas departs to betray Jesus—it was night

11PM Institution of the Eucharist using Afikomen (Luke 22:20) after supper

11:50PM Journey across the Kidron singing Psalm to Garden of Gethsemane

Wednesday 1 April 33 Solar Nisan 15 Lunar-Solar Nisan 12 fourth day of the week

12AM Passover watch 3 hours of prayer/agony in garden on the Mt. of Olives (Matthew

26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46)

Jesus sweats great drops of blood (Luke 22:40)

3:30AM Jesus arrested by Chief Priests (Luke 22:52)

3:50AM Jesus first taken to Annas’ palace. Hour when darkness reigns (John 18:2-24 Matthew

26:47-56; Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47-53)

Triple denial (Matthew. 26:69-75; Mark 14:67-72; Luke 22:55-60; John 18:25-27)

4:50AM after the space of an hour—cock crows (Luke 22:59)

Jesus moved to Caiaphas’ palace

7AM First Sanhedrin trial of Jesus—Many witnesses (Matthew 26:59-61; Mark 14:55-60)

7PM Jesus in Temple prison overnight (conjecture)

88

Thursday 2 April 33 Solar Nisan 16 Lunar-Solar Nisan 13 fifth day of the week

5AM Sanhedrin Meets—the final Sanhedrin Trial; As soon as it was day (Luke 22:66)

6AM Full Sanhedrin condemned Jesus (daybreak Mark 14:64-65) struck him; (Mark 15:1)

early in the morning; (Mark 27:1?)

7AM Jesus first trial before Pilate (Matthew 27:2; Mark 15:1; Luke 23:1; John 18:28-38)

Did not enter that they might eat Passover (John 18:28); many accusations (Mark

15:3); Praetorium, eve of Passover John 19:14; Jesus in Pilate’s prison underground

(Matthew 12:40-41 3 days and 3 nights in heart of earth)

10AM Jesus trial before Herod; questioned him with many words (Luke 23:6-12); elegant

robe & mocked (Luke 23:11);

2PM Second trial before Pilate (Luke 23:11) —Pilate’s wife troubled by dream (Matthew

27:19) Release of Barabbas (all gospels) (John 18:40)

Pilate summoned Chief Priests (Luke 23:13) once again; then a third time

7PM Pilate’s prison overnight

Friday 3 April 33 Solar Nisan 17 Lunar-Solar Nisan 14 Day of Preparation

4AM? Scourging and mocking Mark 15:16 Crown of thorns, scarlet/purple robe (John 19:1)

5AM Jesus third trial before Pilate

6AM (6th hour dawn Roman time) Pilate condemns Jesus (John 19:14)

8AM You crucify him—so Chief Priest responsible to crucify Jesus; Pilate handed Him to

them to be crucified (John 19:6); Jesus carried own cross, Simon carried cross

9AM Crucifixion (third hour); Numbered with transgressors (Luke 22:37 Mark 15:25)

Jesus offered wine mixed with myrrh—bitter—Jesus refused to take.

9:10AM Father forgive them for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34).

Jesus mocked by the people (Matthew 27:39)

Jesus mocked by the leaders (Matthew 27:41-43)

Jesus mocked by the two thieves (Matthew 27:44)

9:30AM Jesus garments divided (John 19:23-25)

Woman behold your son, Behold thy mother (John 19:26-27)

Amen I say, this day you shall be with Me in paradise (Luke 23:43)

Noon (sixth hour) Darkness until 3PM (Luke 23:44; Mark 15:33)

2PM My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me? (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34)

2:55PM I thirst (John 19:28)

2:58PM It is complete/consummated (John 19:30)

2:59PM Father into Your hands I commend my Spirit (Luke 23:46)

3PM (ninth hour) Earthquake, Jesus dies, darkness ends, Temple veil split (Mark 15:38)

The gate of the Temple opened by itself. The Sanhedrin, the Chamber of Hewn Stone

became unusable.

3:05PM Truly this man was the Son of God (Mark 15:39)

3:15PM Legs of thieves broken

3:30PM Jesus’ side pierced (John 19:34)

3:45PM Pilate permission to Joseph of Arimathea to bury Jesus

4:15PM body removed from cross, washed, spiced, wrapped in shroud entombed (Luke 23:50)

Preparation day (Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; John 19:14, 31, 42, Luke 23:54)—

Sabbath about to start (Matthew 23:54; Mark 15:42) Magdalene & Mary watched.

89

When it was evening (Matthew 27:57; Mark 15:42)

5:59PM Jesus burial complete—stone rolled in front of the tomb entrance

6PM Passover and Sabbath started most in Jerusalem celebrated the Passover Seder

6:20PM Red (because at horizon) partially eclipsed moon rises in the east Acts 2:20

—Jesus journeyed into Sheol, Hades, Purgatory see Apostles Creed.

Saturday 4 April 33 Solar Nisan 18 Lunar-Solar Nisan 15 High Sabbath

Day Sabbath the day after the preparation day (Matthew 27:62) Chief priests set watch—

the Chief Priest’s guard was composed of Levites and priests, sealed stone, set guard.

6PM Sabbath ends—After the Sabbath Mark 16:1 Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of

James, and Salome went and bought spices.

Sunday 5 April 33 Solar Nisan 19 Lunar-Solar Nisan 16 First day of week

4:50AM Mary Magdalene (MM) and the other Mary (M) (the wife of Cleopas) on the way to

the tomb (Matthew 28:1-3)

5AM The Bright Morning Star rose; earthquake, tomb opened angel sat on stone (Matthew

28:2-3), Holy fire from God consumes Jesus’ sacrifice. Resurrection before dawn.

5:01AM Guards afraid became like dead men (Matthew 28:4)

Very early, (the sun’s (rays) being now risen (Mark 16:2)

5:10AM Angel says, He is risen He is not here, go quickly and tell his disciples (Matthew

28:5-7) Mary Magdalene and Mary departed quickly and ran to tell His disciples

(Matthew 28:8)

Jesus met MM and M and Hail—they took hold of his feet (Matthew 28:9) Go tell my

brethren to go to Galilee, there they will see me (Matthew 28:11)

5:20AM (while they were going) Guards go to chief priests (Matthew 28:11-12)

5:40AM Mary finds tomb empty and other women (Matthew 28:9)—before dawn

6AM Other women fled and said nothing (Mark 16:8)

Mary Magdalene encountered Jesus

First Fruits of the barley harvest

Jesus did not meet His relatives.

6:15AM Women with spices (Luke 24:1-3); two angels; report to the 11 Just after sunrise

(Mark 16:12) 1st day of the week Women fled and said nothing because they were

afraid. (Mark 16:8)

6:45AM Peter and John run to tomb (Luke 24:12)

Many other’s resurrected (Matthew 27:52-53) and went into holy city

2PM Road to Emmaus talk same day; 7 miles from Jerusalem (Luke 24:13-32)

4:30PM It is nearly evening (Luke 24:29); returned (7 miles) to Jerusalem at once (Luke

24:33) Jesus’ appears to Peter

7PM Jesus visits 10 Apostles in Jerusalem (Mark 16:14-18; Luke 24:33-49; John 20:19-31)

Sunday 12 April A.D. 33

7PM Jesus visits the 11 Apostles Second Visit

Friday 1 May A.D. 33 Jesus’ third Visit

6AM Jesus asks disciples if they had caught anything

90

Sunday 3 May A.D. 33 The Great Commission Sunday second First Fruits

6AM Jesus appears to His apostles and commissions them Matthew 28:19-20

Jesus appears to 500 disciples

Thursday 14 May Ascension Mt. of Olives, Bethany

6PM Jesus ascended into heaven, as the second week of second solar Passover ended (Acts

1:3, 6-13)

6:30PM Apostles return to Jerusalem

91

Appendix A: Table of Jubilees

Table 1: JUBILEE EVENTS FROM CREATION TO PRESENT

Year AM Jubilee Year Event Description—If * event occurs in year following Jubilee

0 0 4866 BC Creation of Adam and Eve

980 20 3886 BC Enoch Translated—maybe *

1656 3200 BC The Flood— about ten years before the Jubilee

2842 58 2027 BC Circumcision of Abraham, * Isaac born.

2940 60 1929 BC Esau sold his birthright to Jacob/famine associated with Jubilee

2989 61 1880 BC First son of Israel, Reuben is born, * Levi born.

3038 62 1831 BC Seventh year of Famine predicted by Joseph just passed

3430 70 1439 BC * Exodus of Israel out of Egypt

3479 71 1390 BC The first planting when settling in the promised land.

3528 72 1241 BC The end of the Mesopotamian oppression—Othniel judge

3577 73 1292 BC The end of the Moabite oppression—Ehud judge

3773 77 1096 BC The end of the Ammonite oppression—Jephthah judge

3822 78 1047 BC * The anointing of King Saul.

3871 79 998 BC * David ruling over all Israel and Judah in Jerusalem

3920 80 949 BC The dedication of Solomon’s Temple (9 years 11 months after start)

4165 85 704 BC The 15th year of Hezekiah & destruction of Sennacherib’s army.

4263 87 606 BC * Judah first carried into Babylon.

4361 89 508 BC Israel rescued through the efforts of Queen Ester

4410 90 459 BC * Ezra returns, 5 years later Nehemiah restores Jerusalem’s walls

4704 96 165 BC Victory of the Maccabees over Antiochus Epiphanes

4900 100 AD 32 “Acceptable Year of the Lord”, *Crucifixion, Resurrection & Church

6076 124 AD 1208 Last Jubilee celebrated at a 49 year interval

6172 125 AD 1300 First ordinary Jubilee celebrated at 25 year interval

6872 150 AD 2000 Great Jubilee—Pope John Paul II (40*50 since Jesus’ birth)

Abstract: Proposes a framework without gaps that closely follows standard Biblical

chronologies. Early chronology is slightly longer than one based solely on the MT as two

witnesses were required for the duration of each generation. The sojourn in Egypt of 430 years

follows the SP and the LXX where the period extends back to Jacob’s return from Padam Aram.

The duration of the Judges comes from the 479 years of 1 Kings 6:1. The duration of the

Kingdom period, with some reservations, comes from Thiele work, with Saul anointed in 1046

BC. Israel went into the Babylonian Captivity in 605 BC. Jesus was crucified in 33 AD. Careful

analysis of the chronological details from Creation to the Crucifixion has revealed a Jubilee cycle

pattern for many Biblical events. Often the Jubilee year immediately precedes the event such as

the Isaac’s birth, David’s move to Jerusalem, or Babylonian Captivity. Jubilees continued at 49-

year intervals until changed by the Church in 1300 AD. Since then, Jubilees are celebrated at

about 25-year intervals. A longer pattern of 10 Jubilee periods for important events is also

evident. The Exodus followed Jubilee #70 in 1438 BC, Solomon’s Temple was dedicated in

Jubilee #80 in 949 BC, Ezra’s restored the people after Jubilee #90 in 539 BC and Jesus was

crucified after Jubilee #100 in AD 33. In 2000, we celebrated Jubilee #150.

92

Table of Contents The Chronology of Jesus’ Life ....................................................................................................... 1

Generating a Chronology of Jesus’ Life ..................................................................................... 1 Astronomical Chronological Framework of Jesus’ Life Points to Passover .......................... 1

Passover Events an Additional Chronological Factor ............................................................ 2 What Day was Passover? ........................................................................................................ 3 How did Jesus fulfill the details of the Passover? ................................................................... 4 Discussion of the Length of Jesus’ Ministry........................................................................... 9 The Second-First Sabbath ....................................................................................................... 9

The Standard View of and Problems with the Length of Jesus Ministry ................................. 10 Yet Four Months until the Harvest ....................................................................................... 11 The Unnamed Feast .............................................................................................................. 12 The Missing Year .................................................................................................................. 12

The Historical Setting ........................................................................................................... 13 A FRAMEWORK FOR THE CHRONOLOGY OF JESUS’ LIFE ......................................... 14

Astronomical Signs (eight signs linked to Jesus) ................................................................. 14 A Solar or Lunar Solar Calendar .......................................................................................... 16

Timeline of Events (All dates Julian) (Official Jewish day of year) ................................. 17 A Look at the Chronological Passages Bearing on Jesus Ministry ...................................... 18 Assumptions Consistent with a Two Year Ministry ............................................................. 19

Assumptions for Generating a Calendar of Jesus’ Ministry ................................................. 19 Other Views of the Second-First Sabbath ............................................................................. 20

Dating Augustus and Tiberius Caesar ................................................................................... 21 Date of the Start of Jesus Ministry ........................................................................................ 22 Passover Events in the Wilderness ....................................................................................... 22

Primacy of Matthew for Chronological Order at this Time .................................................. 23

CHRONOLOGY OF JESUS’ EARLY LIFE ........................................................................... 23 Conception and Birth of John the Baptist (c. Nov 30, 2 B.C.) ............................................. 23 Jesus Conceived (Wednesday 7 April 1 B.C. Midnight) {15-1 Passover} ........................... 25

Jesus Born (Midnight Sunday 25 December 1 B.C.) {10-10} .............................................. 26 Jesus Circumcised (Noon Sunday 1 January 1 A.D.) {17-11} ............................................. 26

Presentation in the Temple (Thursday 2 February A.D. 1) {6-12} ...................................... 27 Magi and the Star of Bethlehem (Thursday 23 March A.D. 1) {10-1} ................................ 28

The Holy Family Returns from Egypt (c. Passover A.D. 2) ................................................. 29 Passover when Jesus was Twelve (Saturday 15 to 24 April A.D. 13) {15 to 24-1} ............ 29 Passover Refinement to details of Jesus’ Ministry ............................................................... 31

JESUS’ FIRST YEAR OF MINISTRY A CHRONOLOGICAL NARRATIVE .................... 32 Baptism and Forty Day Fast (c. Monday 8 January 31) {23-10} ......................................... 32

The First Disciples (Thursday 1 March 31) {Purim 14 to 20-12} ........................................ 33 Sabbath (Saturday 2 March 31) ............................................................................................ 34

A Sign in the Heavens (Sunday 3 March 31) ....................................................................... 35 Wedding at Cana (Tuesday 6 March 31 through Monday) {21 to 27-12} ........................... 36 First Passover of His Public Ministry (Thursday 29 March 31) {15 to 21-1} ...................... 37 The Week of the Solar Passover (Wednesday 4 to 10 April A.D. 31) {21-1} ..................... 37

Nicodemus Visits Jesus (Night Tuesday 3 April A.D. 31) {20-1} ................................... 37 Baptizing near Jericho (Thursday 5 April A.D. 31) {22-1} ............................................. 38

93

John the Baptist Arrested (c. Thursday 5 April A.D. 31) {22-1} ..................................... 38

Sychar the Woman at the Well (Friday 6 April A.D. 31) {23-1} ..................................... 38 Cana a Royal Official’s Son Healed (7PM Tuesday 10 April A.D. 31) {27-1} ............... 39

Nazareth Jesus Returns Home (Saturday 14 April A.D. 31) {1-2} ...................................... 40

Jesus near Capernaum (Passover -2 Fri 28 Apr to Sat May 5, A.D. 31) .............................. 41 Jesus near Capernaum (Day 1) Treasure (Passover -2 Fri 27 Apr A.D. 31) {13-2} ........ 41 Jesus near Capernaum (Day 2) Cleansing (Saturday 28 April A.D. 31) .......................... 41 Jesus near Capernaum (Day 3) Heal & Watch (Passover Sun 29 Apr A.D. 31) {16-2} .. 42 Jesus near Capernaum (Day 4) (Passover + 1, Monday 30 April A.D. 31) {17-2} .......... 43

Jesus near Capernaum (Day 5) (Passover + 2, Tuesday 1 May A.D. 31) {18-2} ............ 44 Jesus near Capernaum (Days 6-8) Bethsaida and Chorazin {18 to 21-2} ........................ 45 Jesus near Capernaum (Day 9) (Second-First Sabbath Sat 5 May A.D. 31) {22-2} ........ 45 Jesus near Capernaum (Days 2 through 9) Unleavened Bread ......................................... 46

The Second Solar Passover (Friday 4 to 17 May A.D. 31) {21-2} ...................................... 46 Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles (Friday 4 May A.D. 31) .......................................... 46

The Death of Joseph (Sunday 13 May A.D. 31) ............................................................... 47 Son in Nain Raised (Tuesday 15 May A.D. 31) {3-3} ..................................................... 48

To Jerusalem for Pentecost (Sunday 20 May A.D. 31) {Pentecost 8-3} .............................. 49 Jesus Returns to His Home Town of Nazareth (c. Saturday 2 June A.D. 31) ...................... 49 Jesus Sent Out His Disciples (Undated June A.D. 31 to March A.D. 32) ............................ 49

JESUS’ SECOND YEAR OF MINISTRY A CHRONOLOGICAL NARRATIVE ............... 50 Spring AD 32 Feeding 5000, 4000, the Transfiguration and Trans-Jordan Judah ............... 50

Feeding Five Thousand (Tuesday 1 to 6 April 32) ............................................................... 51 Feeding Five Thousand (Day 1 Eve of Solar Passover) (Tuesday 1 April 32) ................. 51 Feeding Five Thousand (Day 2 Solar Passover) (Wednesday 2 April A.D. 32) {3-1} .... 51

Feeding Five Thousand (Day 3 Solar Passover +1) (Thursday 3 April A.D. 32) {4-1} .. 52

Feeding Five Thousand (Days 4-6) Preparing to Feed the 4000 ...................................... 53 Feeding the Four Thousand (Sunday 6 to 11 April 32) ........................................................ 54

Feeding Four Thousand (Day 1 and 2 Sunday and Monday 6-7 April A.D. 32) .............. 54

Feeding Four Thousand (Day 3 Eve Solar Passover Week 2) (Tue 8 April A.D. 32) ...... 54 Feeding Four Thousand (Days 4-6 Wednesday through Friday 9-11 April A.D. 32) ...... 55

Caesarea Philippi and the Transfiguration (Monday 14 to 21 April A.D. 32)...................... 55 Jesus at Caesarea Philippi (Normal Passover Day, Monday 14 April A.D. 32) {15-1} ... 55

Transfiguration First Fruits (Sunday 20 April A.D. 32) {21-1} ....................................... 56 Transjordan Judean (Perea) Ministry (Friday 2 May A.D. 32)............................................. 57

Who Pays the Census Tax (c. Tuesday 29 April A.D. 32) ............................................... 57 Perea Eve of Solar Passover in Second Month (Friday 2 May A.D. 32) {3-2} ............... 57 Passover in the second Month (Wed May 14 to Tue May 20 A.D. 32) ............................ 58

Sending out The Seventy-Two (c. Summer A.D. 32) ....................................................... 58 At the Feast of Tabernacles (Saturday 11 October A.D. 32) {17-7} .................................... 58

The Feast of Dedication (Wednesday 17 December A.D. 32) {25-10 to 2-11} ................... 59 JESUS’ FINAL WEEKS A CHRONOLOGICAL NARRATIVE ........................................... 59

Lazarus of Bethany Raised (Tuesday 3 March A.D. 33) {13-12} ........................................ 59 The Final Journey to Jerusalem and Passion Week (Wed 25 Mar A.D. 33) {5-1} .............. 60 The Last Supper (Tuesday continued) .................................................................................. 61 Jesus’ Arrest (3:30AM Wednesday 1 April A.D. 33) ........................................................... 62

94

Jesus’ Trials (Wednesday –Friday 1-3 April A.D. 33) ......................................................... 63

Crucifixion 9AM to 3PM (Friday 3 April A.D. 33) {14-1} ................................................. 64 On The Third Day He Rose from the Dead .......................................................................... 69 The Resurrection (5AM Sunday Morning 5 April A.D. 33) {16-1} .................................... 70

Journey to Emmaus & Jesus’ Meets with His Apostles (Sunday 5 April A.D. 33).............. 71 Jesus and disciples the Sea of Tiberius (Fri May 1, A.D. 33) 2nd Solar Passover ............... 72 Ascension Thursday Sundown (6PM 14 May A.D. 33) {25-2} ........................................... 72 Pentecost Sunday (9AM 24 May A.D. 33) Second First Fruits............................................ 73

Observations ............................................................................................................................. 73

The Church............................................................................................................................ 73 Numerical Numbers for the Dates of various Events ........................................................... 74 The Signs of John’s Gospel .................................................................................................. 75 Passover Event List ............................................................................................................... 75

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 76 Calendar of Jesus Infancy and Birth ......................................................................................... 79

Calendar of Jesus Public Life ................................................................................................... 80 Passion Week Details ................................................................................................................ 86

Appendix A: Table of Jubilees ................................................................................................. 91 Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................... 92